History of the Wallingford disaster

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The University of Connecticut
Ubraries, Storrs

BOOK 55 1.55^K347 '-^ wALLINGFORD

KENORICK » HISTORY u

DISASTER

3 -1153 00l3bH05 0

This Book may be kept out

TfFO WEEKS

F

HISTORY

TV

OF THE

WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

JOHN B. KEKDRICK.

ILLUSTRATED.

HARTFORD, CONN.:

The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., Printers.

187S.

Copyrighted.
JOHN B. KENDRICK.

1878.

9 0 5S,

PREFACE.

My thanks are due to all who have so kindly aided me in
the preparation of this book — and their name is legion.

I am especially indebted to Samuel Simpson for his
interest and assistance.

The daily papers have been freely used.

The use of Mr. and Esq. has been avoided.

The net proceeds will be devoted to charitable purposes.

Many men and women of our day think and act as if the
days of chivalry were past. It is a great mistake. The
world is daily growing wiser and better, and with all the
sadness and pain of this disaster, there have been many,
very many, grand and noble deeds of self-denial and mercy
which assure one that this is not a very bad world after all.

J. B. K.

Wallingford, September i8, 1878.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

BEFORE AND AFTER THE CYCLONE, - - 7

CHAPTER n.

THE DEAD AND DYING, 16

CHAPTER HI.

TIMELY AID, 21

CHAPTER IV.

THE DESTRUCTION ON THE "PLAINS," - - - - 25

CHAPTER V.

THE DESTRUCTION ON THE "HILL," - - - - 30

CHAPTER VI.

THE DEAD-HOUSE, 36

CHAPTER VII.

THE CEMETERY, 40

CHAPTER VIII.

VISITORS, 44

CONTENTS. O

CHAPTER IX.

POLICE, LIQUOR, ------ 50

CHAPTER X.

COMMITTEES AND CONTRIBUTIONS, - 56

CHAPTER XI.

RELICS, INCIDENTS, - 65

CHAPTER XII.

DESCRIPTION AND THEORY OF THE STORM, - • 70

ILLUSTRATIONS.

I.— THE GRADED SCHOOL-BUILDING, Frontispiece.

II.— ON THE "PLAINS," 9

III._ON THE "HILL,"— J. MUNSON'S AND W. M.

HALL'S, 23

IV.— "THE ELM " (more than twenty feet in circumference), 33

v.— CATHOLIC CHURCH, - - - - 41

VI.— SAMUEL PA^RMELEE'S HOUSE, - - - 51

VII.- JOHN SIMMONS'S HOUSE, - - - - 67

VI II. -JOHN GINTY'S HOUSE. - - - - 71

Messrs. E. Valentine and N. R. Wordeii furnished the photographs for the illustrations.

HISTORY

OE THE

WALLINGFORD DISASTER

CHAPTER I .

FRIDAY. AUGUST 9, 1S78— BEFORE THE CYCLONE— AFTER
THE CYCLONE— FIRST YIEWS AND FIRST THOUGHTS
—THE DEAD AND DYING— LIST OF THE DEAD.

HISTORY.

ON the afternoon of Friday, August 9, 1878, we were an
active and a prosperous people.

Busy factories, thrifty farms, and happy homes were glad
proofs and witnesses of the growth and blessing which were
ours.

Surely any visitor on that bright day would in his heart
have said, " Here is a place beautiful in its valleys and hills,
and blessed in its contented and joyous families." No words
could have been more true.

But Friday evening saw a far different sight, for we were
soon to feel the breath of the Death Angel.

Toward the close of this beautiful day the wind began to
rise rapidly, blowing chiefly from the west and southwest ;
frequent flashes of lightning were quickly succeeded by heavy
thunder. About 6. 1 5 p. m. the black clouds, hastening from
the southwest and from the northwest, met above the Com-
munity lake, and poising themselves for a moment or more —
as if gathering force and will for their death-work — swept
eastward over us with desolating fury. The time from the
formation of the cyclone until its destructive work in the

8 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

village was completed, did not exceed one and a half minutes ;
indeed, Samuel Hopson, living four miles east of the churches,
thinks that the damage in his vicinity was done at about a
quarter past six. From his testimony, and from the state-
ments of others, it is clear that the velocity of the storm was
very great.

The tornado was at once followed by torrents of water,
which continued to fall for ten or twelve minutes. The
water came down in sheets, rather than in drops, like an
ordinary shower. When the fury of the rain had somewhat
subsided, the ringing of the bell was heard, and the greater
part of the village residents, who had no idea of what work
the storm demon had wrought, thought only of fire ; but as
they hurriedly hastened northward, they were astonished
witnesses of the scene.

J. H. Frost was going home from his work in the shop,
and was just south of the residence of Samuel Simpson, when
the cyclone formed and swept eastward ; he saw the hideous
storm darting forward directly toward himself, as if to sweep
him to destruction. He moved now here, now there ; now
he rushed forward, and then fled back ; now he moved in
terror, then crouched in fear, raising his hands as if to avert
the coming ruin.

Samuel Simpson, sitting by his window, saw these strange
movements, and was astonished ; and, not knowing their cause,
was even amused. Some minutes afterward his family, fright-
ened by a chimney crashing down through the house, rushed
to him in terror ; freeing himself from them, he looked north-
ward from his window and saw some of the results of the
cyclone, but could not believe that he saw correctly.

Many persons had sought refuge in stores, and some were
thus saved who would probably have been killed had they
been at home.

Wooster Ives was among the first in his section to discover
that serious harm had been done. E. M. Judd, believing that
injury had been done in the northern part of the village, was
soon in his wagon ; as he drove on he met Dr. B. F. Harrison,
just going, into his ofifice, and, taking him in, hurried north-
ward.

BEFORE AND AFTER THE CYCLONE. 9

Fallen trees blocked the road in many places, and getting
on as best they could, here and there using the sidewalk as a
road, they drove first to the Hill and then to the Plains, for
here was the greater need.

Our townspeople were soon hurrying northward. We
saw only the lower half of our sightly brick school-house
on the hill — the upper half was gone. A mass of ruins
marked the site of the Catholic church. High street was a
street of ruins; one house remained, but that was moved
from its foundations and shattered.

In Wallace's row, eleven homes were utterly destroyed —
one house remained to show where the street was. In
Colony street only the cellars showed where the homes had
been. In almost every instance the buildings had been
swept from their foundations, and dashed into numberless
fragments.

Such was the first meager glance — what would daylight
reveal .''

We soon knew that on upper Main street many fine resi-
dences had severely suffered, and that upper Elm street had
keenly felt the tornado ; but none knew, or conjectured even,
how great was the loss of life, or damage to person and
property, or how far eastward the storm had gone. Many
felt strangely bewildered, and thought themselves dazed when,
instead of homes, they saw utter destruction ; and instead of
dwellings, a plain sown with torn and twisted timber, and with
debris of every kind.

Strong men wept.

Strewn here and there, in roads and gutters, and across
the Plain, or wedged in among the debris of the wreck, were
the lifeless and the maimed, helpless, and, in some cases,
clothesless.

'Twas not a time for thoughts of property destroyed or
houses ruined. We thought only of the dead, the dying, and
the wounded. The sickening odor of burning flesh, and of
slaughtered bodies dripping with blood and gore, spread like
a cloud of vapor.

In the darkening gloom of approaching night, and in the
2

10 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

deeper gloom of disaster and death, words were unsaid, or
fell meaningless and unheeded.

It was now a terrible moment.

The people who had been rendered homeless were either
dead, wounded, or terror-stricken.

Many thought that nothing could be done until an inquest
had been held.

E. M. Judd at once began the work of straightening the
stiffening bodies which he found.

The neighbors of the dead were ready to bring bandages
and cloths to tie the limbs together, but feared to directly
assist him in his sickening task.

He found Mattie Mooney in the east gutter of Colony
street. His head was nearly severed from the body, as if
torn by some inhuman force forward from the back of the
neck, toward the front. He was walking on the railroad
track at the time, and hence must have been hurled this dis-
tance of four hundred and fifteen feet, as afterward measured.

E. M. Judd was soon preparing for removal the body of
Frederic Littlewood. He lay in the west gutter of Colony
street, a short distance south of the ruined Catholic church.
He and his wife were returning home, and seeing that the
storm would soon be upon them, he left his wife at Thomas
Rynn's, while he hastened to his home for an umbrella.

He never reached his home, nor did Mrs. Littlewood know
of the destructive work till word came to her that her
husband was killed ; then, with a mother's cry of agony, she
rushed on to find her boy, whom she had left sleeping at
Home, now in the ruins, mangled and bleeding, and soon to
die. Frederic Littlewood was probably struck by a flying-
timber. His head was crushed, and his jaw, besides being
broken, protruded through the skin an inch or more.

In and near the road lay the five bodies of the Mooney fam-
ily, not far from the site of iheir home ; three of them were
close together, while the two others were apart. These were
all mangled and disfigured. The mother had, a little while
before, finished a heavy washing, and was asleep when the
blast struck her dwelling.

BEFORE AND AFTER THE CYCLONE. II

The three dead members of the Tracy family were readily
found — father, mother, and infant son. The child was injured
about the side and shoulders. The father and mother were
somewhat similarly injured, both having had the skull broken
in, besides several mutilations on other parts of the body.
After the limbs had been straightened and tied, the bodies
were covered with quilts or clothing of some kind, while
attention was given to others of the dead.

The night was now rapidly closing in around this scene,
but faithful men, with lanterns sending forth a sickly glare,
were searching still amid the general ruin for other bodies.

In Wallace's row every home on the north side was deso-
lated, not only by its own ruin, but by the violent death or
fatal injuries of one or more of its inmates.

Let us trace this street eastward. From the first family,
two sons are gone for ever. These two boys of Patrick
O'Neil's are among the killed ; another son and a daughter
saved their lives by crouching close to the cellar wall.

The two O'Neil boys were carried to the town hall by
direction of Selectman R. B. Wallace, but about 1 1 o'clock
the same night were brought from there to the school-house.

In the next house were Mrs. Mary Downs and Mary Healy
(a daughter by a former husband). Both mother and daughter
suffered fatal injury by wounds in the head and by broken
limbs. Mrs. Downs was killed in an instant, but Selectman
R. B. Wallace found Mary Healy sitting up in a chair. He
caused her to be placed in C. N. Jones's wagon, and the
intention was to take her into the town hall, but George Hull,
with kindness peculiar to him, insisted upon receiving her
into his own home. When the team came to his residence,
she attempted to get out without assistance, but she was not
permitted so to do.

Mrs. Hull prepared for her a bed in the parlor, and the girl
seemed to be eager to assist herself, and gave to Mr. Hull
and his wife the impression that she was not seriously injured.
After making her as comfortable as possible, Mrs. Hull
stepped for a moment into an adjoining room, and upon
returning saw at a glance the deathly appearance of her face,

12 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

and knew that life had left her. Besides a fracture of the
skull, there were probably internal injuries.

Following up Wallace's row, we find the Matthew family,
badly hurt from bruises and burns. One little boy of this
family was scalded and terribly bruised, besides having both
his legs broken ; he died on Sunday, and was taken to New-
York for burial. Robert Taylor is worthy of mention for his
kindness to this family in their hour of distress.

In the next house lived John Payden. When found, he
was alive, and was taken to his brother's house, but survived
only an hour.

The Coughhn family suffered severe injuries ; but in this
family only one life was sacrificed to the storm demon. The
violence of the tornado had hurled Katie Coughlin through
a window of the upper story. Death was instantaneous. She
was probably struck by a flying timber, for the upper and
back portions of the head were entirely gone, and the brain
was oozing out.

In the last house on the row lived the Lynch family. No
one was at home except the mother and one child — a girl of
nine years. From what the little girl can tell we glean the
following: "Mother was sewing at the sewing-machine, and
I was sitting near her, when all of a sudden we heard a great
noise, and then mother and I were throwed right down just
before the stove ; and then, before we could even think, some-
thing, I don't know what it was, came and throwed us ever so
far." Poor little girl ! even as I write your words, I think
your little life is ebbing fast away.

Mrs. Lynch was found at least one hundred feet from the
house. She was taken into John Redmond's house, but
there was no hope of recovery — she soon died !

Joseph Huldie's loss excites peculiar pity and heartfelt
sympathy. He had not resided here many months, but it
was soon felt that his was an interesting family. Two chil-
dren were living of the four that had been given to him. Upon
his somewhat early return from his work in the glass-shop,
while holding in his arms his little baby, he heard the rushing
of what seemed to him like a driving rain, and kissing his

BEFORE AND AFTER THE CYCLONE. 1 3

children and leaving the infant in its mother's arms, he hast-
ened upstairs to close a window. Those kisses were his last
good-bye ; before he could return to his family, they were in
the arms of death ! Mrs. Huldie, who is described as a
woman of singular beauty, was instantly killed ; but even in
death clasped closely to her breast her dead infant.

At eventide, a pleasant home, a beautiful and loving family.
Ere sunset, no house, no home, mother and children mangled
and dead !

When the tornado had swept by, Thomas G. Daley's house
on Christian street was seen to be utterly destroyed, and the
uninjured neighbors believed that the entire family had per-
ished. But the family had heard the strange, unearthly noise
preceding the whirlwind, and in terror had rushed from the
house. The infant sleeping in its cradle was found still there,
having passed from the sleep of life to the sleep of death !

The house of Mrs. Michael Toohey was situated three
hundred feet west of the railroad. It was blown to atoms,
and, while her son, a boy of twelve, was blown into a tree
and there caught in the branches, with bruises and a broken
arm, the mother was hurled into Colony street, a distance of
seven hundred and ten feet ! It need scarcely be said that
her body was horribly mutilated and mangled. The head
was connected with the body only by the skin ; the skull was
a pulpy mass ; the ankle-bones were broken ; indeed, E. M.
Judd says there did not seem to be an unbroken bone in her
body ; and others agree in this statement.

John Hayden and Thomas Cassen had gone after the cows,
but they were not outside the range of the storm. Death
was their fate. Thomas Cassen's death was due to internal
injury, as there were no marks of violence. Mrs. Maria
Boyle, mother of Thomas Cassen, must have been killed in
an instant.

Johnnie Littlewood died on Monday. About half-past
nine, Friday night, we found Mrs. Littlewood and her boy
on a mattress in Michael Purcell's house. The boy was
evidently in a dying condition ; the back of his head was a
mass of broken bone and flesh and brain ; and the blood was

14 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

flowing from his ear ; doctors could give no aid. Mrs. Little-
wood's grief was too deep and bitter even for tears, and I
chink that I never saw such agony upon the face of any
mortal, as, in answer to my question, she said: "Fred [her
husband] is killed, and Johnnie is dying. Oh, couldn't God
spare me my boy, 'tis all I have ! " She never saw her dead
husband, but, without tasting food, remained by her dying
boy until he died. It is a wonder that he lived those three
days, but 'twas a living death.

Mrs. John Lee was taken in a dying condition into Thomas
Rynn's house. She lay moaning, while at her side her
daughter was bitterly crying and looking with imploring eyes
at Dr. Banks, while he was busy with other cases in the
same room. This child's appeal. " Doctor, please won't you
do something for mother.''" came from a heart which in that
hour reverenced the goodness and implored the aid of the
physician almost as if he were a god. But in vain. Mrs.
Lee's injuries were internal, and she died at three o'clock
Saturday morning.

Thomas Ginty lived a cjuarter of a mile north of the path
of the cyclone. He had the consumption, and died of that
disease on the night of the disaster. Some think that the
terror and horror caused by the news of the destruction
hastened his death ; but I do not count him among the
victims. The baby child of John Mooney died in New
Haven hospital on Thursday, the 29th of August. Its body
was covered with bruises, but the immediate cause of death
was cholera infantum. When its little body was laid to rest
on the evening of the day of its death, six members of the
Mooney family slept in this country graveyard !

Maggie Lynch lived on in pain until Saturday, August 31st.
Her right ear was nearly severed from the head, and a deep
gash had been cut in the right cheek, as though made by a
flying shingle. Dr. Goodyear of North Haven, was the first
to attend to her. Her right leg was broken in several places
above the knee, while below the knee there was a severe
burn, more than eight inches long, and correspondingly broad.
The ligaments of the left knee were severely strained, and

BEFORE AND AFTER THE CYCLONE.

15

the bottom of the left foot had two fearful and deep burns.
She was injured internally also, and seemed to have been
hurt in the back. Drs. Davis and Banks spent three or four
hours each day in dressing her wounds. Dr. Jewett also
gave attention to her. Is it any wonder that she died having
such injuries ? It rather seems incredible that life lingered
so many days.

LIST OF THE DEAD.

Frederic Littlevvood, about 45 years.

Johnnie Littlewood, 10 year.';.

Matthew Mooney, 17 years.

Mrs. Margaret Mooney, 52 years.

Nellie Mooney, 9 years.

John Mooney, 25 years.

Mrs. John Mooney, 21 years.

Matthew Mooney, 5 months.

Conrad Tracy, 60 years.

Mrs. Conrad Tracy, 40 years.

Henry Tracy, 10 years.

Patrick O'Neil, 8 years.

John O'Neil, 9 years.

Mrs. Mary Downs, 50 years.

Mary Healy, 20 years.

John Matthews, 6 years.

John Payden, 45 years.

Mrs. Ellen Lynch, 43 years.

Katie Coughlin, 14 years.

Maggie Lynch, 9 years.

Mrs. Joseph Huldie, 35 years.

Thomas Huldie's infant, 7 months.

Nellie Huldie, 5 years.

John Daley, 6 months.

Mrs. Michael Toohey, about 50 years.

Johnnie Hayden, 8 years.

Thomas Cassen, 17 years.

Mrs. Maria Boyle, 44 years.

Mrs. John Lee, 55 years.

Making a total of twenty-nine deaths from the effects of
the tornado !

CHAPTER II.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 187S— THE REMOVAL OF THE DEAD— THE
INJURED BY STORM AND FIRE— PHYSICIANS— NOBLE
WORK AND NOBLE WORKERS.

WHITHER shall the dead be taken ? Their homes
are crushed and scattered like chaff ; the dwellings
in the vicinity are now hospitals for the reception of the
injured.

E. H. Pratt, after consultation with E. M. Judd, started to
open the brick school- house on the Plains, but while on his
way met Patrick Dignan, the principal of this school, who at
once unlocked the building. This edifice was about sixty
rods south of the sweep of the cyclone, and was a very suit-
able place for the removal of the dead. Into this building
the killed were carried as rapidly as possible: wagons, drawn
in some instances by hand, and containing sometimes two or
three corpses, conveyed them to this house of the dead.
None but the dead were admitted here.

Frederic Littlewood's body was the first one brought in ;
and at 10 o'clock thirteen bodies were in this morgue, and
the work of bringing in continued during the night. These
were placed, some on boards, others in rude boxes ; and,
being laid across the desks, were covered by blankets or
cloths, only the face being left uncovered. As soon as ice
could be obtained they were all ice-packed. It was a terrible
sight, and brought tears to many eyes unused to such scenes.
Men, who had spent years in the army, and seen death in
■ many forms, and had felt his breath upon their own cheeks,
say that they had never before witnessed so heart-rending a
sight.

Men, almost fiercely, and women, frantically, asked where
is he or she (naming a relative — perchance a father or
mother) ; and many bitterly wept their dead. Words seem

THE DEAD AND DYING. 1 7

perfectly without meaning when telling the fearful facts, and
no one can ever recount the horrors of that night, nor can
any one even imagine the utter woe and wretchedness of
those bitter hours. Women and children had suffered most
severely. The men were mostly at their work, or on their
way home at the moment of the disaster; some, however,
had hurried so as to be at home before the storm, and were
among its victims. As the whirling storm had moved on in
its eastward patli, besides hurling the houses into broken
fragments it had scattered hither and thither the hot stoves,
and sent their burning contents in every direction. The
wounded living were fortunate indeed if their flesh had not
felt the awful agony of the red-tongued flame or of the hot
iron as it clung to the quivering body or was pressed upon
the flesh by broken timbers. The heavy rain, following the
sweep of the cyclone, was a wondrous blessing, quenching
the flames which had burst forth, and thus saving some from
death by fire. As we looked upon the injured writhing in
pain, with broken limbs and bleeding cuts and burns or
scalds — here a piece of flesh torn out, and there a scalp
ragged and hanging — we thought of the long years of
orphanage for some of them ; and said in our hearts, Trul}-
these homeless, helpless ones, bereft of all that is dear on
earth, are in far sadder plight than those dead ones yonder.

It is not fitting to give in detail the wounds of each injured
person.

The list of wounded is as follows :

Richard Taylor, about 30 years, back broken ; cannot survive

John Condon, 50 years, back and head injured.

Patrick O'Neil, about 50 years, head and shoulder injured.

Mrs. Patrick O'Neil, about 47 years, badly bruised.

John Coughlin, 10 years, head badly bruised.

John Cline, about 30 years, wrist broken.

Mrs. John Cline, about 30 years, somewhat bruised.

Mrs. Patrick Coughhn, 50 years, bruises, and a deep pos-
terior flesh wound.

Mrs. John Condon, 42 years, and her daughter, 1 1 )'ears,
the former bruises and cuts ; the latter dangerously injured.

3

l8 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

Mrs. Michael Caten, 33 years, injured internally.

Matthew Tracy, 9 years, scalp nearly torn off.

Conrad Tracy, 7 years, bruised.

Eloise Tracy, 14 years, bruised and cut in arm ; serious
injury.

Mary Tracy. 15 years, back hurt severely.

John Toohey, 12 years, arm broken.

Henry Saunders, 35 years, severely bruised ; son, aged 2
years, badly bruised about the head ; wife, badly bruised.

Patrick Cline, 33 years, badly cut about the head and body ;
wife, 30 years old, four bad cuts in head, a serious case.

John Cline's step-daughter, 6 years, shoulder out of joint.

Mary Ann O'Rourke, 15 years, badly bruised about head
and feet.

Mary Matthews, 18 years, left arm crushed above the elbow.

Winnie Early, 12 years, probably injured internally.

Delia Cassidy and Barney Cassidy, husband and wife,
severely bruised and cut, but will recover.

Mrs. Daily, bruised severely about the back and hips ;
baby killed on her arm.

Andrew Ennis, 6 years, skull laid bare ; will recover.

Miss Sarah Fields, the invalid lady who was buried in John
Munson's house ; not materially worse from the shock.

George Joel, about 35 years, quite seriously bruised ; arm
broken.

Charles Parmelee, about 24 years, bruised about head and
body.

Henry Jones, 33 years, bruised.

Charles Logan, 60 years, bruised.

Katie Mooney, 14 years, head hurt.

James HoU, a Frenchman, badly cut about shoulders, and
two children bruised.

Some others were injured, but not so seriously as those
mentioned. Besides the thirty-five above named, many were
disfigured by cuts, burn.s, and scalds.

The physicians of the place — Drs. Banks, Harrison, Davis,
McGaughcy, and Atwater — spared themselves not in the
least, but applied all their energy and skill for the relief and
assistance of the sufterers.

THE DEAD AND DYING. I9

Dr. S. D. Gilbert, from Fair Haven, was active in the work
of relief.

Johnnie Hoey, a boy of 12 years, under orders from E. M.
Judd, rode to Meriden for doctors ; he rode on his horse and
was back in less than an hour. This appeal brought to us
many physicians from Meriden, some coming on the 8.37
p. M. express, which stopped, while others drove down.

Dr. Goodyear of North Haven, was soon on the ground,
rendering needed service, and physicians from other localities
were soon among us. The work of the physicians, thus early
begun, continued and still continues. No words can tell how
much we owe to the care and skill and tireless zeal of our
resident doctors. Surgeons from New Haven came up to
give the benefit of their advice and skill. Let us ask our-
selves what we could have done without our physicians, and
then only can we have some idea of our indebtedness to
them.

Drs. P. A. Jewett, C. P. Lindsley, J. P. Henriques, and
T. B. Jewett, rendered valuable service during the following
week.

The homes in the vicinity were houses of refuge, for that
night, at least.

" Troubles never come alone" — no, never; with them come
sympathy and help. It is a glorious and loving work to
record the names and services of those who, from the heart,
seek to diminish the suffering, and to ease the pain of others,
whether those pains be of mangled body or of bleeding heart.
We can record but few of the many instances of self-sacrifice
and assistance so nobly and freely rendered during those dark
hours. I rejoice that they are so numerous, but not one is
lost ; they are all written in the hearts of those who received
and those who gave, for

" Mercy is twice blest ;

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes ;"

and they are all treasured up in the great heart of the living
God.

E. M. Judd was one of the first upon the scene, and his

20 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

systematic and executive work, especially in caring for the
dead, was simply invaluable.

I will mention some who were active and useful : George
P. Tyler, George E. Bullock, J. W. Lane, Oscar Lane, Hiram
Seeley, Edward Johnson, E. H. Pratt, B. T. Jones, George
Hall, Edward Allen, Silas Stow, Seth Whitney, Hezekiah
Hall, Edward Carroll ; and so the list runs through a host of
names. William Myers gave assistance with his team. B. D.
Sutlief knew no rest for many days. I pass over many, very
many names worthy of honor. John Redmond was among
the foremost in the work of caring for the injured ; into his
house Mrs Lynch was carried, and here she died. Here also
was received Richard Taylor, so badly hurt in the back.
Others also were brought in here.

What a scene was that in Thomas Rynn's house ! Into
his parlor the wounded had been brought ; here, upon a mat-
tress, lay the dying Mrs. Lee ; here, Dr. Banks was putting
the seventeen stitches into the scalp of Marcus Tracy, a little
boy, who bravely endured the pain. Among the wounded
here were Mrs. Catherine Kelly and Nellie O'Ned. Clothing
and cloth for bandages were freely given by the family.
Amid all the suffering and pain, it was a blessed thing for
this family to give and to do whatever was in their power.
Many souls forgot their own needs in supplying the needs of
others. Though cheeks were pale and hands were nerveless,
all this was forgotten or suppressed, in the effort to relieve
and to sssist.

The true spirit of Christ and of His loving teaching breathed
forth in the acts of many who never were reckoned among
the members of any church, and we all felt in those terrible
hours that we were all of one great brotherhood.

" Not wholly lost, O Father, is thi.s evil world of ours,
Upward throu,t(h its Ijlood and ashes spring ativesh the Eden flowers."

.CHAPTER III.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1S78— THE COMMUNITY— THE CLERGY-
SAMUEL SIMPSON— RAILROAD TRAINS— HEZEKIAH HALL—
AN INCIDENT.

THE quiet and noble action of the Wallingford Com-
munity must not escape notice. The Community,
seeing that a storm was coming, had sent home the girls
employed by them in their spoon factory, in order that they
might get home in time to avoid the rain and wind. They
were sent home some few minutes before the regular time
for stopping work, which was at six o'clock. This was
kindly intended, of course, but no human wisdom could fore-
see, or in any way foreknow, the distress and death ol the
evening.

Just after the disaster, Mr. Kingsley drove rapidly to the
ruins ; naturally enough he sought first for the girls who, less
than an hour before, had left their factory. He found Mary
Ann O'Rourke covered as if dead. Assisted by others, he
carried her into Mrs. Thomas Kennedy's house, and then
hastened back for some of the ladies of the Community.
His errand was soon accomplished, and Misses Nash, Hatch,
and Worden were soon amid the scene of suffering. They
brought clothing, bandages, cloth, etc , and at once gave atten-
tion to the wounds of Miss O'Rourke. Her injuries were
chieiiy about the head, and blood was flowing from her ear;
besides this, the right limb was terribly lacerated. Dr. New-
port of Meriden, dressed the wounds, but there were no signs
of life ; although every means of recalling lingering life were
employed by the ladies, twelve long hours slowly passed before
consciousness returned. A. A. Sperry, who was busy all night
aiding and relieving, says that had she remained uncared for
ten minutes after Mr. Kingsley first saw her, she would have
never revived Beyond all question she owes her life to these

22 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

devoted men and women. Rev. J. H. Beale says that he
noticed Miss Nash sitting on the bed, holding in her lap Miss
O'Rourke's bleeding head, and bathing it. George N. Miller
was watching by her bedside on Saturday morning at two
o'clock.

The Tracy children also were objects of their care. They
took three of them to homes where they could pass the night,
taking one of them home with themselves ; and now, during
these succeeding days, they assist in supplying their wants,
and their pay in the shop is continued just the same as if
they were at work.

On the morrow they employed men to search the ruins for
any effects belonging to the Tracy family, which were not
destroyed, and stored them in a safe place. Bedding, com-
fortables, and other needfuls, were carried over for the suffer-
ers on that night, and on Saturday morning, by an ingenious
method of Mr. Kingsley's, Miss O'Rourke was carried to her
own home, and on Sunday she was considered comparatively
out of danger. The ladies knew just what to do, and acted
to the full extent of their knowledge.

Mr. Woolworth and Mr. Bristol spared no labor or pains to
give relief and aid.

Other names and other deeds — some known, others not
known, by the writer — are worthy of honor. With the true
modesty and delicacy which accompany all self-sacrificing
actions, they are reluctant to speak of their own exertions and
generosity. The one hundred dollars which they gave to the
relief fund is but a small fraction of the money they have
spent, and are spending, for the homeless and suffering.

The deaths, with one exception, were coniined to the
Catholics. Rev. H. Mallon (Catholic) was not long in any
one place ; his presence was felt to be needed in every place,
and in those hours of suffering and sorrow he was here and
there, uttering words of hope and consolation. Weary and
worn and sad, he never faltered or hesitated in his work.
The work of the ministry is sometimes a glad and sometimes
a sorrowful one, but could any task be more sad and painful
than this task of his, when his people seem rent in twain —

TIMELY AID. 23

church wrecked, homes destroyed, many lives lost, and many
persons injured? How must these things, before his eyes,
press heavily upon his mind and heart !

Rev. J. H. Beale (Methodist) was busy, especially in remov-
ing" the Tracy children ; so busily engaged was he in assist-
ing, now in this house, now in that lowly dwelling, that he
did not think it worth while to learn the names of those
whom he aided. Mr. Beale did a good work when, on the
next day, Saturday, just before eleven o'clock in the morning,
he mounted a little platform at the passenger depot, and, with
outstretched hat, besought aid for the sufferers. He labored
here almost continuously for the rest of that day, preaching as
perhaps he never preached before. As visitors gathered at
the d6p6t ready to return to their homes, all classes — the
rich and the poor, the refined and the rough — silently made
their way toward the speaker, and, after dropping in the hat
their contributions, went away happier for so doing. Just
before the departure of the one o'clock train, N. D. Sperry,
postmaster at New Haven, and Judge H. L}'nde Harrison, in
a few earnest words, commended the speaker and his divine
object. Two hundred and two dollars and ninety-six cents
were raised in this way.

Rev. J. E Wildman (Episcopal) gave his presence, counsel,
and aid during Friday evening ; on Saturday and during
many succeeding days his time and energy were spent freely
and gladly in relieving the needs of the needy.

Rev. W. C. Richmond (Baptist) was not in town at the
time of the cyclone. He arrived from New Haven on the
evening train. During Friday evening, and all day Saturday,
he sought in every way to relieve and to comfort. He offered
to Rev. H. Mallon the use of the Baptist church for the
funeral services, but it was thought best to have the funeral
services in the churchyard.

Rev. H. M. Tenney (Congregational) was absent from
town during the early days of our distress, but his people
were not lacking in sympathy and in aid, and some of them
were the heavy losers.

Samuel Simpson took John Munson and his homeless

24 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

family to his own home, and asked Constable R S. Austin,
in the absence of Selectmen, to empower several persons to
guard the exposed property on Main street. Mr. Simpson
said that he would be responsible for this assumpti' n of
authority. His noble gift of $500 for the sufferers, although
he himself lost $5,000 worth of property, attests his deep
sympathy.

Trains were running all night, and the 8.37 p. m. express
from the North stopped to accommodate passengers. The
duties of S. N. Edmonds, ticket agent, kept him at his post
until 3.30 Saturday morning.

Families living many miles to the east of us were startled
at seeing the air loaded with shingles and boards, furniture
and clothing.

Hezekiah Hall, living three miles east of the village, saw
the air filled with all kinds of fragments, and noticing a large
black something, he watched it, and when it fell, it proved to
be a door, blown from the Plains. "Some one is in distress,"
said he, and in his wagon he hastened toward town ; the
roads were blocked by fallen trees, and his road that night
was through the fields. He assisted the Jones family in
their distress, and then drove onward to be of service to
others. His work thus begun lasted through many days.

All through the night, lights were burning and moving to
and fro in many a home. Many, very many, never left their
self-chosen work of mercy until morning brought others to
their relief. Some slept with troubled dreams and frightful
visions.

I give one incident which, like a divine message from the
loving Christ, seems to shed peace and quiet over this unquiet
and horrid spectacle. A gentle sparrow was caught and
borne onward by the whirling gale, and when the tempest
was over, the bird was found with its head thrust far into the
grass and ground, and with its feathers torn and wet. As it
lay fallen and dead, how blessed seemed the words of the
Master : "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ? and one
of them shall not fall to the ground without your I^^ather. . .
Fear ye not therefore ; ye are of more value than many
sparrows."

CHAPTER IV.

THE MORNING AFTER THE DISASTER— WORK OF THE STORM
ON THE "PLAINS'— INCIDENTS— WHAT THEY THOUGHT.

SATURDAY does not dawn with the accustomed bright-
ness of these beautiful summer days ; a dull mist
obscures the sun, but the haze slowly passes away, and by
9 o'clock the fog has disappeared. Yet the day is far from
being bright and pleasant, and the afternoon brings with it a
dismal rain. Nature seems to regret her destructive work of
the previous evening as she fills the sky with dull and somber
clouds, and sheds them upon the earth in gentle tear-drops.
No factory whistles call the workmen to their daily tasks.
Five days must pass before the whirl of wheel and hum of
machine shall tell of work resumed.

The 8.43 A. M. train brings, besides its crowded load of
sight-seers, the New Haven and New York papers, contain-
ing quite full and accurate accounts of what their reporters
saw and learned in our town last night.

From near and from far, by rail and by road, these crowds
have come to us, and still are coming. The high and the
low, the rich and the poor, the young and the old, how differ-
ent they are ! yet all are moved by a common sadness and a
common sympathy.

Let us now trace carefully the work of destruction, begin-
ning at the western limit of the storm.

The Community windmill, about twenty-five rods north of
their dwelling, was the first object to suffer; then, moving
on, the storm felled here and there a huge tree, crossed the
lake, and entirely demolished a low brick factory owned by
the Community, and occupied by George Crasser as a brit-
annia shop. Sweeping down some trees which stood near
the edge of the lake, it now came to the broad level of the
Plains. The cyclone was now moving with fearful rapidity
4

26 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORI) DISASTER

and intense power close to the surface of the ground, and
whatever lay in its broad path was swept away like a feather
on the breeze.

On the west of the railroad track, only two houses were so
situated as to feel the full effects of the storm, namely, one
house owned and occupied by James Holl, the other owned
by Mrs. Catherine Hurley, and occupied by Michael Toohey
and family ; these two dwellings were hurled from their
foundations and torn into thousands of pieces. Several
persons were in James Holl's house, but no one was even
seriously injured. How any inmate could have escaped
death, or at the least fatal injury, I know not. When I
asked how they escaped, the reply came, " Nothing but God
saved them." The house occupied by Michael Toohey was
so utterly demolished that only here and there could a plank
or board be found. A house some distance south of this just
felt the whirl of the storm ; it was moved from its foundations,
but was not injured beyond repair. Here lived John Lewis.
Some few rods west of this house were the barn and sheds
belonging to Patrick Cassin's daughteis. These buildings
were entirely demolished.

Let us cross now the railroad track.

The " Plains " here look like some broad meadow where a
mighty river has left the debris from some great freshet ; or
like some barren coast after a disastrous storm, where broken
ships with their vast and varied cargoes lie destroyed, their
crews and ofificers dead on the beach or already the prey of
hungry fishes. This churchyard never looked so desolate as
it does to-day. The monuments and headstones lie upon the
ground, some broken and others shivered. One headstone
was noticed still standing, but with its upper half broken off,
while its sides were torn and shattered. The force of the
storm on this stone was not forward ; the direction of the
force was not in a straight line ; if so, the stone must have
been thrown down. The peculiar way in which the pieces
were torn out of its side showed that the force of the
storm had acted in a curve. A little way yonder lie the
ruins of the Catholic church. Just south of the church is

THE DESTRUCTION ON THE "PLAINS. 2/

Thomas Rynn's house, occupied by WilUam Murry ; this
building was only partially destroyed, and Mr. Murry escaped
with only a few bruises ; he was found buried up to his neck
in the sand. North of the Catholic church were six houses,
occupied by (i) Mr. and Mrs. John Boyle and her son ;
(2) Mr. and Mrs Fred. Littlewood and son ; (3) Mrs. John
Lee and her dau;j;hter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Pat.
McGrath ; (4) Mrs. Mooney and children ; (5) Mr. and
Mrs. John Mooney and children ; (6) Mr. and Mrs. Conrad
Tracy and children.

Here the destruction was almost beyond belief ; out of
these families, fifteen persons were either instantly killed or
received fatal injuries. Scarcely a remnant of some of these
dwellings could be found. James Lee says that he owned
three of them, and that all the remains he could find of one
of them was a small piece of a door, and that was many rods
from the site of the house.

North of these houses was the large dwelling owned by
Mrs. Ellen Coffee and Michael Hayden ; its roof was almost
entirely destroyed, and it suffered other injuries. This- house
is very old ; it was built perhaps a hundred and fifty years
ago. It is a mistake to suppose that its heavy and tough
oaken timbers withstood the shock. The reason why it
escaped total destruction was because the cyclone, as it
neared the house, raised itself from the ground and swept
off chiefly the upper part of the dwelling. Then, too, this
building was outside of the main current of the storm.

Somewhat south of the southern line of the storm, we find
the Parker place. This had stood the storms of a hundred
years, and is said to have welcomed Washington within its
walls. It was well shaken up, but perhaps its patriotic
history kept it on its foundations ; in front of it a huge elm,
perhaps seventy years old, lay across the road.

All the barns in this section were torn to pieces, and no
one can find out where the wind put the pieces. One man
went eastward to find his cow, and met her coming back
uninjured. He does not know which left his premises first,
his cow or his barn.

28 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

There were several cases in which all, or nearly all, the
clothing was torn from the person. One man when found
had nothing on except his shoes and a collar. Facts like
these prove the rotary motion of the storm. One gentleman
found several vases not injured in the least, while bedsteads,
tables, chairs, and stoves were completely destroyed with the
houses.

In the house occupied by Michael Caten and Patrick
Lenahan and their families, there were nine persons at the
moment of the cyclone, and though the house was utterly
demolished, no one was seriously hurt except Mrs. Caten.
Mrs. Lenahan was thrown or blown a distance of six hundred
or seven hundred feet, and yet was not fatally injured.

Pat. Cline found himself rushing through the air and
lodging in a tree ; he looked back in no little wonder and
terror, and saw flying toward him in the air a cow. She
appeared to him, doubtless, like a dragon from the pit, but
while he looked, she suddenly disappeared into a cellar, where
she was found with broken horns ; she was the property of
James- Ryan, and was probably carried through the air a
distance of several hundred feet.

Mrs. Patrick O'Neil was thrown sev^eral hundred feet, and
though badly bruised and sadly bereaved of two young and
promising sons, has kept up wonderful heart and courage.

Mrs. Caten had a wonderful escape. She was thrown
some distance, and covered with the ruins of a house ; only
her feet could be seen, and it took the united strength of
perhaps thirt)- men to raise the timbers enough to release
her. She was severely but not fatally injured.

Daniel O'Reilly had a narrow escape. He was on the lake
in a boat, and seeing trouble brewing in the black clouds,
made with all speed for the eastern shore. He had nearly
reached the shore when he plunged forward into the water
and was thrown on shore. He clung fast to the earth and
then tried to rise, but no human being could stand before the
gale. The water drenched him, and the sand and pebbles
beat upon him and through the clothing left deep impressions
in his body. His boat with others was cast upon the shore
many feet beyond its edge.

THE DESTRUCTION ON THE "PLAINS. 29

One man had gone into the upper story to close a window
just as the storm struck his home; the house was turned on
its side, and as he looked up, he saw the roof go up into the
sky, and looking again, saw all the furniture moving out of
the open top of the house and his boy going with it. In less
time than it takes to tell it. he found himself, with bruises
and broken ribs, lying in a heap of rubbish, and looking up
into a tree, saw his boy among the branches, when the follow-
ing dialogue is said to have occurred :

" Henry, are you hurt .''"

" No, father. What's the matter?"

" Och, thin, I'm badly hurt."

" Ah, father, if you'd only come with me, you'd been safe
enough ! "

One of the wounded women, upon being asked how it
seemed, replied : " I did not know whether to laugh or to
cry ; the pigs were whirling round in the air, cows were
flying as if they had wings, and doors and furniture went by
us and over us like lightning!"

It certainly must have been a unique sight, but in such
terrible moments all thoughts were terribly serious.

'What did you think it was .-'" said I. "What could we
think, but the end of the world !" said one woman ; while an-
other answered, " We thought it was the day of judgment."
These two answers exactly express what was thought.

This destruction, so sudden, so complete, so fearful in
every respect, coming truly like a "thief in the night," seemed
to them as it would have seemed to us — the agony and pas-
sion of earth's last hour.

CHAPTER V.

THE CYCLONE'S WORK ON THE HILL AND TOWARDS THE
EAST.— DESCRIPTIONS.

LET US pass now from the Plains to the hill. Here also
we find large and interested throngs ; here, too, are
special police patrolling, and ready for any trouble which may
occur. On the hill, the ruin is not so complete as on the
level land. The cyclone was not lacking in force, for it pros-
trated strong and deep-rooted elms, but it lifted itself from
the surface as it ascended the higher ground, and took, in
most instances, the upper portions of the buildings. Since
early dawn, sturdy farmers with stout cattle have been busy
removing from the roads the fallen trees which blocked the
ways. Some of these lusty limbs and giant trunks have
required all the power of many pairs of cattle to drag them
from the road into the road-side. In some places it was
absolutely necessary to make a passage through the fields, so
completely were the roads blockaded. The meadows and
orchards southwest of J. R. Campbell's house became of
necessity a public highway for several days.

Upper Main street is the pleasantest street in town, graced
on cither side by branching elms and peaceful homes. Many
of the residences here are expensive and finely furnished ;
here also is our Beach school-house. This stately brick
building seems to be a heap of ruins ; both upper stories are
gone, and a part of the second story is torn away. This was
a beautiful structure, and far the most prominent building in
town. It was built in 1870, and cost about ^35,000.

It may seem strange that a westerly storm destroyed more
of the eastern portion of the building than of the western.
People living in this vicinity did not hear the falling of the
building, and knew nothing of its wreck until, looking out,
they saw the result. Portions of its heavy roof were thrown

'I'HE DESTRUCTION ON THE "HILL 3 1

against Elijah Williams's house, across the road, doing serious
damage. Some of the heavy iron grailin was picked up many
rods east of the building, and having been broken up, the
pieces were sold as relics, and the money, ^13.75, was given
for the relief of Maggie Lynch, who survived till the 31st of
August.

Let us trace the condition of the residences, going up Main
street. North of the school-building is the new dwelling of
Mrs. Fanny Ives. The entire top is gone, and the building
is moved from its foundation. The ne\t injured house
belonged to William M. Hall. The top was gone and the
inside seriously injured. His attic was stripped of some fine
old furniture, and a number of trunks, filled with clothing
and other valuables, had gone literally "to the winds" — at
least they could not be found. When the tornado occurred
Mr. Hall was returning from his barn ; in a moment he found
himself in the street, but how he came there he does not
know. Mr. Hall's barn was blown to pieces, but his horse,
being in a kind of basement, was saved.

John Munson lived in the next house ; he was looking out
of his west window : he saw the air thick with sand and
flying fragments and turning, grasped the door-casing. The
next moment he was in the cellar, while the house was hurled
forward into the street ; the upper story was gone, and what
remained was a complete ruin. Mrs. Munson. Mrs. Isadore
Munson, Miss Sarah Fields, and the hired girl, were confined
under the timbers ; by cutting and prying they were removed
and found to be uninjured, save by bruises. Their escape
from death seems wonderful.

Hermann Vasseur's house was shattered and taken from
its foundation. A part of the roof was removed, and the
inside suffered severe damage. Mr. Vasseur's horse escaped
permanent injury although the barn was destroyed.

Samuel Peck's loss was not serious.

On the east side is the unique residence of Elijah Williams.
It is now shattered and disfigured. We notice in its side a
great breach where some timber must have come crashing in.

Chauncey Hough's house comes next. This stalely man-

32 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

sion looks sadly enough roofless and torn, surrounded by
prostrate trees, and in its rear the ruins of a large barn. Mr.
Hough, though an old man, takes his loss like a philosopher,
and feels thankful for life spared to himself and his family.
In the attic were some rare and valuable paintings belonging
to William Yale Beach ; they are, of course, ruined. Some
furniture of Mr. Beach's suffered a similar fate. Charley
Munson, Mr. Hough's grandson, was soon at the barn, and
freed the horse from the ruins.

Mrs. Friend Miller's house sutTered the loss of its roof, and
was somewhat injured in other respects. An oaken chair in
her sitting-room was literally torn to pieces, while nothing
else in the room was injured. All through this region, on
both the eastern and western slopes of the hill, trees of all
kinds, both shade and fruit, were torn up by the roots or had
their trunks twisted and broken, as if they had been straws.

Samuel Parmelee's fine property sufilered severely ; his loss
is the heaviest of any individual's. His house and barns on
Main street were unroofed and greatly marred. Of his three
tenement-houses on Elm street, in the rear of his home, two
are totally demolished, while the third will need some exten-
sive repairs. Mr. Parmelee was absent in Toronto, Canada,
and his son, Charles J., who has charge of the farm, was in
the barn when it fell ; he escaped, and running to the house,
tried hard to hold on to a door-knob, but his efforts were
useless, and he was hurled by the storm many feet ; he was
picked up severely bruised and injured in his leg, shoulder,
and back. Let us pass now to Elm st.

Elm street was very properly so named. Many of its
giant trees were set out years ago by Capt John At water ;
some were set out later by other hands. Caleb Atwater says
that those set out by his grandfather are about one hundred
years old ; one of these elms, fourteen feet in circumference,
and rather small in comparison with some others, was over
seventy years. This was determined by counting the rings
of growth, as it lay broken across the road. The cyclone, as
it swept onward, grasped many of these grand old trees
which had stood unmoved the blasts of scores of years.

THE DESTRUCTION ON THE "HILL." 33

They were snapped near their bases as if they had been
pipe-stems, or else lay full length prostrate on the earth,
tearing up with their roots a great round mass of clay and
stones. These giants of the earth, laid in a moment helpless
upon the ground, impress us with the fearful power of the
cyclone. We stand in their presence with feelings of awe
and astonishment.

The beautiful residence and grounds of the late Roderick
Curtis show some results of the storm ; in front are some of
the prostrate elms, while inside the yard, trees of all kinds
are twisted and torn and broken. The house escaped injury.

West of this lot, the orchard of Elijah Beaumont suffered
the loss and injury of many trees.

Mrs. Geo. P. Munson loses the top of her house ; her barn
is entirely destroyed.

Just south of this house is one of these great elms broken
off near its roots ; this tree was twenty feet ten inches in
circumference at its base.

In front of John Ives's house is another immense elm torn
up by the roots. The north end and roof of his house are
somewhat broken.

George H. Joel was returning home, and seeing the air
filled with limbs and shingles, tried to avoid them, but was
struck by a limb and dashed up against Mrs. George P.
Munson's fence, having been thrown a distance of forty feet
or more. His left arm was broken, and his right leg fearfully
bruised. His son George had a very narrow escape. The
house in which this family lived was peculiarly injured. The
eastern roof is gone, while the western remains uninjured ;
portions of the eastern and northern sides were taken out,
while the other sides seem untouched. Mrs. Joel, with her
daughters, was in the house at the time, and she relates a
peculiar experience. It seemed to them like an earthquake
as well as a hurricane.

What is quite peculiar is that many of the trees in this
vicinity fell in a northerly direction, and some even in a
westerly, though the most of them fell toward the east.

John Atwater's barn on its western side is unharmed, while

5

34 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

its eastern roof is gone. Mr. Atwater and John Hall lose
many apple-trees.

Going eastward, we find Parmelee's woods prostrate.

Henry Jones loses a large part of his orchard, and also
many other large trees. His house was unroofed. He was
in the barn when the tornado came. Feeling the building
swaying, he rushed to the door, which stuck, and down came
the barn upon him. A large timber, or a mass of timbers,
in falling, pressed down upon him until he thought his back
would give way, when the pressure came to a stop. For a
moment he thought his chances were very slim. Emerging
from the ruins, when he began to think, he was surprised
enough to behold his horse, which was in the barn when it
went down, walking out of the ruins, unharmed, to meet him.
He felt disposed to shake hands with the animal if it were
possible.

J. R. Campbell suffered the loss of many fine apple-trees.
His dwelling-house was considerably injured, and his barn
ruined.

Hall Brothers, butchers, lose a barn.

Charles L. Paddock's barn was a total wreck, and he lost
many fine fruit-trees.

Injury was done to trees belonging to John Kennedy,
Hezekiah Hall, Benjamin Hall, William E. Hall, and others.
- In William E. Hall's woods, fine large beech, white-oak,
and chestnut-trees, lie upon the earth broken and shivered ;
one can plainly see the manner in which the wind twisted
them from their stumps. They lie here in every direction
but the northwest. In one place, the trees lie across one
another, pointing northeast and south. The storm here was
too high to do much injury to small timber, but these six
acres of heavy timber suffered injury to the amount of about
one thousand dollars. The tornado then moved eastward,
destroying forty trees in a fine orchard of Samuel Hopson,
and then left us, we hope never to return.

There are many injuries to property which we have pur-
posely omitted to mention. We have not thought it worth
while to chronicle the loss of chimneys and of old and worth-

THE DESTRUCTION ON THE "HILL. 35

less sheds ; what would to their losers seem a great loss, when
viewed by others might seem quite trivial. The loss of
property east of the Plains was great, but the cyclone's work
of death was confined to the Plains. It is quite remarkable
that no cows or horses were killed.

CHAPTER VI.

SCENES IN AND AT THE DEAD-HOUSE.

PICTURE to yourself a plain brick building, meanly
built and poorly furnished, two and one-half stories
high, fifty and one-half feet long, and thirty-eight and one-
half feet wide ; then imagine this building without ornament
or beauty of any kind, placed near the middle of a large and bar-
ren lot, and facing on the east a sandy road, and you have a
correct idea of our school-house on the Plains. I sometimes
wonder how we can expect or hope that boys and girls will
be likely to grow up into healthful and earnest and pure men
and women, when so many of their days of growth and devel-
opment are doomed to be passed in places entirely destitute
of both natural and artificial grace and beauty. Well, there are
no joyous, happy faces here, no earnest teachers ; this is now
the house of death, and yet never have so many living beings
crowded in this yard, and passed into this dull building. All
day Saturday this strange mass of visitors surged about this
morgue, and hither and thither, and to and fro, came and went,
seeing strange and hideous sights, and thinking such thoughts as
never before bewildered their minds. This building, in which
lay so many dead bodies, was the center of attraction for the
great number that came to look upon our desolation. Gra\-
headed men and women, young men and girls, and mothers
with infants in their arms, pressed forward, eager to see the
sickening, horrible sight. The sight of death even in its
most hideous forms has a strange fascination.

At 5 p. M., on Saturday, Pat McKenna directed the building
to be closed against the public. At sunrise on Smiday morn-
ing many had come to see and to hear, and they were permit-
ted to look upon the ghastly sight of the dead. At 7.30 a. m.,
on Sunday, the rooms were again closed, and then began the
work of preparing the dead tor burial.

THE DEAD-HOUSE. 3/

At the request of B. D, Sutlief, R. H. Atkinson, Edward
Allen, Amos Dickenson, and J. H. Dickerman met in the
building for this necessary but repulsive work. Mrs. William
Fitzgerald, Mrs. Edward Callahan, Mrs. Edward Cahill, Mrs.
Timothy Callahan, and Mrs. Andrew Hoban spent their time
and strength too in the same way on this bright sabbath —
bright in truth elsewhere throughout our land, but here death ;
without, ruin, and in many houses here and there, the home-
less, hopeless, and dying.

B. D. Sutlief says that he never saw such a scene.

We might go through the long list, telling the fatal wounds
and particular injuries of each doomed one, but my heart
forbids the recital of such a tale — so needless. Any weak
words of mine wholly fail to tell what only those know who
have seen. This does not seem the work of death. Ah !
no ; some demon from the under-world has here been doing
his own fiendish will !

Twenty-four bodies were in the north room. Broken limbs
and disingured faces were too common to require special men-
tion. In a majority of cases the skull was broken, usually at
the back or side ; often there were horrid burns and fearful
gashes. Here the brain was oozing out and there the vitals
partly gone. Mr. Sutlief was unable in any way to arrange
one body, that of Mrs. Michael Toohey, so completely was it
broken and mangled ; it was a complete mass of destruction,
so he simply wrapped it in cloth Her head just hung by
the skin. It is believed that she struck the telegraph wires
as she was hurled across the railroad track. This seems
true, not only from the fearful and peculiar cuts and breaks
in the body and limbs, but from the fact that telegraph wire
was found near where her body was discovered. As soon as
the bodies were prepared, they were placed in coffins and
carried into the south room ; there the coffins were placed in
boxes. Let us turn now from this spectacle and breathe
once more the outer air ; this building, these rooms, with
their heavy air, and stifling, sickening odors, bid us linger
here no longer.

We find in front of the building Very Rev. Era Leo, presi-

38 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

dent of Alleghany College. At 1 1 o'clock he ofificiated at
the celebration of Low Mass, being in reality a requiem for
the dead ; after this he preached to the people. The attend-
ance here was not large, perhaps not more than six hundred
persons. The vast crowds were at the ruined district, or
driving in line from one desolated part of the village to
another, while some few were at the services in the Protestant
churches.

Not many minutes after one, the work of preparing the
dead was finished. The funeral services had been appointed
at 3 o'clock, but it was about 4 o'clock when the work of
removing the corpses began. The special police permitted
none to enter the school-yard except the relatives of the dead
and those whose duty called them thither.

E. M. Judd made the arrangement for the burial. Each
box had been numbered, and the name of the dead person
written upon it. In the cemetery the same thing was written
upon paper, and was fastened to a piece of wood which was
placed in the ground at the head of the grave which was to
receive the body. Business-wagons had been procured of
our citizens by K. M. Judd ; indeed, in most instances they
had been offered by their owners, and in each of these hearses
were borne the remains of one of the dead. Mrs. Huldie and
her babe lay in a single coffin. Thus the twenty-two wagons
bore twenty-three dead to their last earthly resting-place. On
each box was a green wreath, with white flowers interwoven,
while on the first box, containing the coffined form of John
O'Neil, was a floral cross from the Baptist society.

The procession moved toward the church-yard in the fol-
lowing order :

Constables.

The Very Rev. Fra Leo.

The Rev. Hugh Mallon, Pastor of WaUingford ])arish.

The Rev. Father Slocum of St. Patrick's church. New Haven.

The Rev. Father O'Connell of St. Francis' church, Fair Haven.

Twenty-two hearse-wagons, with their dead.

Bearers following each.

Members of ])arish and citizens.

The police opened the way for the clergy and the wagons

THE DEAD-HOUSE. 39

bearing the dead ; the rest of the street was densely packed
with a moving mass surging onward, and making a part of
the great procession. From the dead-house to the burial-
ground at the cemetery, and for hundreds of feet, especially
to the east of the churchyard, many thousands were thickly
crowded, " Like many swarms of closely-thronging bees."

CHAPTER VII.

THE GRAVES— THE BURIAL— ADDRESS OF REV. MR. SLOCUM.

EARLY Sunday morning finds Rev. H. Mallon and Pat-
rick McKenna in the Catholic cemetery, indicating the
location of the various graves which are soon to be dug by
hands which never before had done so sad a task.

What a strange scene ! Here and there a standing tomb-
stone serves to break the sad monotony of complete desolation.
Granite monuments lie broken and scattered, headstones lie
fallen and shivered, and the church in the foreground of our
picture is a shapeless mass of mingled ruin. But surely
these men dig not graves, for this looks larger far than any
grave we have ever seen. Two brothers, sons of Patrick
O'Neil, will sleep side by side in this one grave, and yonder,
in a single tomb, the five members of the Mooney family —
mother and four children — will together sleep their last long
sleep. And since these lines were written, another child of
this same family sleeps in this wide grave.

Mrs. Boyle and her son, Thomas Cassin, will be hidden
from the outer world by the same covering of earth, and Mrs.
Huldie, with her infant folded to her heart in death as in life,
will lie low beside her little daughter of four.

To Mr. and Mrs. Huldie four children had been graciously
given ; two of these had been taken from this world, and
their departure served to strengthen the bond of tenderness
and love for the two that remained. This fearful blast of
Friday evening sweeps away his home and despoils him of
his treasures. Homeless, wifeless, childless, can we wonder
that he is hopeless .'* No earthly being can understand any-
thing of his pain and agony. We can only leave him in the
sacredness of silence.

Conrad Tracy and his wife and their son Henry will sleep
in the earth separated simply by the wood of coffin and box

THE CEMETERY. 4 1

which enclose the remains of each. Five Tracy children
without home or father or mother — what will life bring to
them, and how will they meet its storms and tempests ?

The crowd, in their excited eagerness to see everything
connected with the strange and sad affair, began to press
forward and either to impede the work or else to cause the earth
to cave into the graves which were already dug. After a few
earnest words from Patrick McKenna, they withdrew, and
were easily kept back by the police present.

'Tis now late on this Sabbath afternoon, the sun is hasten-
ing to complete his daily journey, when a thickening cloud
of dust moves northward, and soon the tread of many feet
tells of the approaching throng ; above all din and noise is
heard the heavy, solemn death chant. They come in sad
procession, and enter the desolate cemetery. None but the
dead and their friends, and those whose duty requires their
presence, are admitted inside the burial-grounds. The vast,
surging, dense throng, numbered by tens of thousands, are
kept back by the militia, uniformed and under arms. The
hearse-wagons containing the bodies are drawn up side by
side, while Rev. Fra Leo conducts the service in Latin, amid
the perfume of incense from swinging censers. Then, step-
ping upon a little hillock of earth, Rev. Father Slocum of New
Haven, preaches the sermon :

" I am about to perform the saddest task ever performed l)y any priest
in the diocese of Hartford, and not only in that, but in the history of
the State of Connecticut. I return to one and all, in behalf of Father
Mallon, thanks for the kindness they have shown in this trying hour.
It is only on such occasions that the spirit of Christianity seems to draw
all together, and I must say that to the best of my knowledge I have
never seen such unanimity of 'action by churches of all denominations.
I do not propose to make any extended remarks nor any sermon. It is
not the place. The bodies that now lie cold before you speak to you
more eloquently than man can. From them you can learn two things —
the uncertainty of human existence, and the power of the Creator over
the created. But a few hours ago, we may say, these people were happy
in yonder valley, with the prospect of a long life before them. There
was the father with his family, and the mother pressing the infant to her
breast, thinking when the boy should grow to be a man to comfort them
in their declining years, and perhaps close their eyes in death. They

6

42 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

seemed as secure as man could make them. The very last thing in
their minds was the thought that they were in a few hours to be hurled
into eternity. But God so willed it. On this quiet and happy and
prosperous village He sent as sad an infliction as was ever known in
Connecticut. It teaches no matter where a man's lot is cast he must
die, — whether lie be a mariner on the sea, a soldier in the field, the
meclianic at liis l)ench, or the ricli man in his mansion. The shafts of
death will strike one as well as anotlier when least expected. To make
a practical application of this, we should try to live according to the
precepts of the divine commands, so that when we are called upon to
die we shall go without fear, but with a conscience prepared for His
judgment. The disaster also teaches us that God's wrath is terrible,
and that His ways are inscrutable. We can say to those who deny
Nature's God, ' Come here and see these corpses, and then say that He
is not a terrible God, if you can.' We recognize Thee, and pray that
our fate may not be that of those who lie here — at least without time
for preparation. I am not here to preach a sermon or to flatter memo-
ries. They have gone to a higher tribunal than man's, and are beyond
flattery. But there is this consolation to friends : Our faith, which is
that of our forefathers, and that which has brought us through many
trials, teaches us that they are still living. They are witli tlie com-
munion of saints, and can pray for us as well as we for them, if prayer
be necessary to release them from the toils and trials of purgatory. Job
cried aloud, 'The Lord giveth and taketh away; welcome be the will of
the Lord.' So say we this day. Tears cannot hel]:» the dead, though it
is natural to weep, but we can help them in another way — in a practical
way, as the scripture tells us. Job says, ' Have pity on me my friends,
for the hand of God has touched me.' So in Maccabees it reads : ' It
is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be
loosed from their sins.' Too often the memory is buried with the mortal
remains in the grave. How few of all this vast throng came here out
of motives of Christianity ! We would say to all, remember the dead.
When you kneel down to pray, pray also for them, that no spot may be
on their souls, and that God may relieve them, if detained, from the
purifying fires of purgatory. Pray also for the homeless ones and those
left without fathers and friends, that they may have such consolation as
He alone can give. Pray for them, that you may not only do an act of
charity for them, but may iiave kind friends behind you to pray lor you
that you may meet in the glories of paradise."

The boxes are now sprinkled with holy water, and the
various hearse-wagons are driven, by direction of E. M. Jiidd,
to their proper places, and the burial is soon a thing of the
past.

All of these bodies were buried in the same cemetery, but

THE CEMETERY. 43

the grave of Frederick Littlewood was somewhat apart from
the others, and Rev. J. E. Wildman conducted the service in
his case.

Here Death has gathered to himself his prey, and while
sobs and tears from women and strong men tell of breaking
hearts, I can almost hear the voice of Christ saying to these
troubled souls, "Peace, be still."

Since this chapter was written, another name has been
added to this death-roll.

Richard Taylor died in the New Haven Hospital on Satur-
day, September 21, 1878.

His spine received severe injury from the cyclone, and in
a short time the lower limbs and lower part of his body
became paralyzed. He could take only the simplest kind of
nourishment, such as milk and beef tea, and, during the last
few weeks of life, while death was slowly and surely claiming
his victim, he lay in helpless agony, praying for death. His
healthy and robust body became a mere skeleton.

May this be the last name to be added to this catalogue of

death.

Richard Taylor. 30 years.

— Whole number, 30.

CHAPTER VIII.

VISITORS— C. D. YALE'S DESPATCH— SUNDAY'S CROWDS-
PRESIDENT BISHOP'S PLAN— WEDNESDAY'S EXCURSION.

WHEREVER there is anything to be seen, there will
people gather. Why this is a fact is not for us to
explain ; but we all know and have felt this peculiar attrac-
tion. The wind with its strange and fatal violence had
scarcely done its work on that sad Friday evening, when
strangers began to appear in the desolated legions. On foot,
in teams, by rail, they found access into the village and
among the ruins. All through the hours of that busy night,
new and strange faces flitted here and there, peering
among the ruined houses and gazing with strange and
startled looks upon the once happy homes, now scattered
into countless fragments. On the morrow, many who had
scarcely credited the rumors came to see and to confess the
inadequacy of any description to portray the spectacle of ruin
and desolation which met their gaze.

In the forenoon of Saturday the depot was not much
crowded, since those who arrived hurried quickly to see the
ruins ; but in the afternoon, and especially in the evening,
the drpot within and without was closely crowded with human
beings, and throngs were on and about the track, ready to
return to their homes. The police did a very valuable service
in clearing the tracks just before the arrival of trains, else
accident must have resulted. The rush for tickets was
unprecedented, and both of the ticket-windows were blocked
by two living masses, eager for tickets. Most of the tickets
were for short distances, yet the sales at this station oh Fri-
day night and during Saturday exceeded ^700. Mr. Edmonds
was unaided in the work of selling tickets, and on Sunday
the balls of his feet were swollen and sore, and he was unable
to stand without suffering pain from them.

VISITORS. 45

In New Haven and Meriden the excitement was intense,
and continued so for several days.

In the cars, not only were the aisles crowded, but outside
the platforms and steps were filled by many feet, and some
were clinging" by the railings. Of the conduct and bearing
of our friends from other towns we have to say only words
of praise. People in crowds often seem to lose something of
the human, and to gain something of the brute ; but quietly,
orderly, and manly was the way in which they bore them-
selves. Surely, what they saw would have been amply suffi-
cint to sober and to restrain any being not wholly given over
to evil ; and the influence of the gentler sex was valuable.
The majority of the strangers during these days were women,
somewhat justifying the world-wide belief in their curiosity.
On Monday, the crowds continued still to come, but not so
many in numbers as on Saturday. Tuesday saw less of
strangers, but it was only a respite before the greater num-
bers of the next day.

It was rumored on Saturday that special trains would be
run on Sunday. It was a bad omen ; and on Saturday after-
noon the following despatch was sent :

To Vice-President Reed :

Please allow no trains to stop here to-morrow.

C. D. YALE, Warden.

SUNDAY.

No trains ran on the Consolidated road, but on the Air-
Line railroad there was a special train from New Haven to
East Hampton, to carry passengers to the dedication of a
Catholic church. When the train stopped here, a number,
perhaps two hundred and fifty, remained and came into the
village to see the effects of the tornado and to attend the
funeral.

Before sunrise, teams began to hasten toward the village,
and the tread of hoofs and clatter of wheels continued to
increase ; every avenue of approach to our town seemed
threaded for many miles with a moving, endless throng.

46 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

Every town within a radius of twenty-five miles must have
sent numerous representatives. Vehicles of every kind,
quality, and size were made to do service. Stages and large
wagons came full to the brim, and a long and scattered line
was to be seen walking on the railroad track from New Haven,
and also from Meriden. The stables could not accommo-
date any great number of the horses ; but yet, in their yards
and barns, every foot of standing-room was occupied, and
many soap- and starch-boxes served as mangers. Private
barns and barnyards became, of necessity, public property for
the time being, and vacant lots were in many instances occu-
pied by teams. The streets were filled with a line of vehicles
going each way, and the police were constantly busy in keep-
ing this crowd in motion. The public-houses were soon
over-crowded, and several groceries were very properly opened,
but crackers and cheese and herrings were soon exhausted.
We were not prepared for so many visitors. Many took din-
ner in barns, and many returned home faint from hunger.
The dust and heat and intense excitement of this day are at
length over, and as the shades of evening close around us,
peace and quiet clothe us as with a mantle.

WEDNESDAY.

Perhaps " corporations have no souls ; " but William D.
Bishop, president of the New York, New Haven & Hartford
Railroad has an excellent substitute for a heart. When,
without any solicitation or expectation on our part, he stated
that on Wednesday, August 14th, tickets to Wallingford would
be sold from every station on the road, and that the entire
gross receipts would be given for the relief of the sufferers,
we all commended his wise and generous plan. The railroad
company had by means of jMinted bills advertised their plan,
and the result was success. The company were astonished
at the crowds, but yet were prepared for them. The tickets
were good on any train, but regular trains with extra cars
were not sufficient ; extra trains were put on, and these were
heavily loaded, inside and out.

We take the following from the New Haven yournal and
Courier oi Thursday, August 15th:

VISITORS. 47

" The rush to Wallingford yesterday was something without prece-
dent in the history of railroading in this State, and tlie throngs in the
depot and on the platform at train time, the crowds at the ticket-office
windows, the hurrying to the cars and the great length of trains, made
the scene striking and memorable. Besides the regular trains, several
large specials were run, three of them of fourteen cars and one of
twenty-one cars, which either immediately preceded or directly followed
the regular trains. All the regular trains were also very large. Yesterday
was the day for half fare to Wallingford from all points on the New
York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, the entire gross proceeds to go
for the benefit of the sufferers. Several hundred people at least came
up the New York road from points below this city, a large number of
them from Bridgeport, and three thousand seven hundred and fifty
tickets were sold at the ticket-office in this city. The fare from this
city to Wallingford and return was thirty-five cents, making the hand-
some sum of one thousand three hundred and twelve dollars and fifty
cents from this city alone for the sufferers. This fine contri])ution in
itself will be very largely increased by the receipts at Hartford and
Meriden, and minor stations. The branch road from Middletown did
one of the largest day's work ever known upon it. Meriden sent down,
it was estimated, over two thousand people, and a large number of
Hartford people came down. New Haven gentlemen stood near the
ticket-office in this city witnessing the sale of tickets. We venture to
say that tickets were never sold more rapidly and in better form any-
where. When the twenty-one-car special stood on the track at the
depot, various gentlemen stood near noting the rapidity with which the
tickets were passed out. The large number of seven hundred and fifty
tickets were sold in the remarkably short time of eight minutes, and at
this i)eriod of the day, one thousand six hundred and fifty tickets were
sold in forty minutes. Ticket Agent States presided at one window
and Mrs. States at the other. Officer Kennedy was, as usual, most
indefatigable and of great service in affording information to the people,
and the female portion of the throng depended solely upon him at times
for guidance and assistance to the trains, and though the time of the
officer was about as well taken up as could be imagined, he seemed a
match for every and all emergencies, no matter how complicated by the
besieging ticket-buyers. The vice-president of the Consolidated road
directed matters in person throughout tlie entire day, a sufficient guar-
antee of the most successful railroading effort. Conductors Loomis,
Brompton, Kinney, Pardee, Ellsworth, Curtiss, Holcoml), and Hart
were in service on the trains, the three first named being the regulars,
and there being two conductors to some of the trains, owing to the great
number of tickets to be taken. Various of the trains were drawn by
two locomotives. There was the utmost orderly conduct at the dej^ot
and trains, and not a single case requiring the attention of the police,
and among the great body of people transported nothing occurred in

48 HISTORY OF THE VVALLINGFORD DISASTER.

the slijihcst (Iej;rco to create confusion or excitement. On the branch
to the depot of the Fair Haven & Westville Horse Railroad there were
two thousand five hundred transfers received, representing that number
of cash fares received on other portions of the route of the company,
and this, with the number of cash fares received on the branch, made a
total of about three thousand passengers carried over the branch to the
dtpot. The supply of transfers ran out during the day, and meeting
the exigency the president, in the absence of the secretary, gone on his
vacation, had a new supply printed, and they requiring signatures,
signed his name to four hundred inside of an hour's time."

In the afternoon the crowds about our depot were so great
that to avoid any trouble the cars from the north stopped and
left their passengers before reaching the depot, and near the
scene of ruin, while trains from the south left and received
passengers in several cases before coming to the depot.
Twenty cars drawn by two engines was not an uncommon
sight. It is perfectly marvelous that no accidents occurred ;
but the services of the police must not be lost sight of in this
connection. The order and behavior during these days may
be indicated by mentioning that only three persons were put
in the lock-up during the entire time.

After Wednesday, for many days, visitors came and still
are coming, but there was no great body of them, and they
were scarcely noticed after what we had already seen. The
number of persons present can never be known.

The following letter from the general ticket office of the
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, is in
reply to a question of mine :

Nkw York, August 24, 1878.
John 15. Kkxdrick, Es(J. :

l^ear .SV;-,— In reply to yours of 22d inst., there were carried to Wal-
lingford by this Company, August lolh, 3,827 passengers ; August 12th,
3,074 passengers; August 13th, 2,462 passengers; August 14th, 7,974
passengers. Yours truly,

C. T. HEMPSTEAD, G. T. A.

In the rush, himdreds bought no tickets, paying on the
cars ; while many, doubtless, escaped jiayment. Adding to
the numbers given, those who came on foot and by teams, a
low estimate gives for August loth, 7,000; August 12th,
6,200; August 13th, 5,000; August 14th, 12,500.

VISITORS. 49

On Sunday, from actual count, 2,020 teams passed one
point on Main street in forty minutes. The New Haven
Register numbers 15,000 teams and five persons to each
team ; then, by adding to this number 2,000 persons who
came on foot, the number 77,000 is made. One New Haven
paper says this number is too large by half. This will give
some idea how the immense concourse impressed every one.
However, I do not think we had more than 22,000 with us
on Sunday. Many took home with them some relic of the
disaster ; pieces of the church organ, chair-rounds, and canes
from some great tree, are now shown in many homes as relics
of the great tornado. One paper estimates that cords of
wood were thus carried off.

CHAPTER IX.

POLICE— MILITIA— GOVERNOR HUBBARD'S VISIT— LI<,)UOR.

RS. AUSTIN, our constable, was promptly on hand.
^ In the early part of the eveninsj he was on upper
Main street, and at the suggestion of Mr. Simpson, appointed
several persons to guard the exposed property. Later in the
night, he rendered service at the school-house, by preventing
any excessive crowding of the building by sight-seers and
bereaved friends. The desire, so common and yet so strange,
to see the ghastly and deathly scene, drew mingled crowds
of both sexes and every age, and, of course, some order was
needful. It soon began to be felt that some regularly organ-
ized force was necessary to protect property and to maintain
peace during the night and on succeeding days, since it was
absolutely certain that many thousands of strangers would
soon be in our town. Selectman R. B. Wallace, who had
been busy on the Plains during the earlier part of the evening,
returned to the town hall, and promptly at nine o'clock ad-
ministered the oath of office to twenty-four special constables ;
of this number, nine were detailed for duty on Main street,
while the remainder were stationed at various points on the
Plains.

R. B. Wallace appointed as chief of the force S. M. Scran-
ton, who remained in charge all night, and was assisted by
officer Goodrich of Meriden.

Patrick McKenna assumed charge of the force on the
Plains, and his services in this connection were of great
value. Additional men were sworn in as they seemed to
be needed. Deputy-sheriff Morgan was absent from town
Friday night, but u])on his return did effective service.

On Saturday morning, the selectmen apjiointed as chief of
the force Edward ^'ale, who was assisted in his work by
George Hull.

On Tuesday, but few of the men were needed, but on the

POLICE, LIQUOR. 51

following day, when the railroad company issued excursion
tickets to our town, about one hundred were on duty. The
services rendered by the special joolice were of peculiar value.
They were useful in restraining and repressing any incipient
troubles. In upper Main street, at the street corners, near
the Plains school-house, at the depot, and elsewhere, the
young man — for the majority of them were young men —
with stout cane in hand, and simple word " Police " pinned
upon his hatband, did no mean service.

By order of the selectmen, the force was disbanded at
twelve o'clock, Wednesday night, but a few remained on
duty through the night to be ready for any emergency which
might arise. Many are the names of those who seem to
well merit special mention, but it would be invidious to
name only some, where all are so worthy. At first a round
piece of red flannel was the badge, but later the word "Police"
on satin ribbon took its place.

The drill and discipline of the military company is by no
means lost, though its members never fight a battle. The
ready and prompt obedience taught in this way is valuable
not only during the monotony of daily life, but also in crises
of every kind. Hence, naturally enough, we thought of Com-
pany K as our police force ready for the occasion. Captain
Wm. N. Mix c^uietly, but firmly, insisted that he had no right
to call out his company ; he said that the Governor, and he
alone, could call out the company. A telegram was sent to
Governor Hubbard, asking him to call out our local militia,
but he responded by asking " Why ? " and said he would be
down the next morning.

Let us meet the Governor at the train ; it can do him no
harm. On the 1 1.20 train on Saturday morning he reaches
here. He has hurried down from Hartford. All last night
there were rumors in that city of a strange destruction in
this growing town, and while on his way to see this sad scene
of ruin, he has read and listened and talked on this subject,
so new, so startling, so awful. As he comes from the train,
General S. R. Smith and Selectman R. B. Wallace are ready
to receive him. He visits the ruins, he hears of the dead

52 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

and the dying ; what before he thought exaggerated, he now
knows was faintly and only partially told. With a generous
and active sympathy, he takes from his private purse one
hundred dollars and gives this sum to our warden, Hon.
C. D. Yale, to be used for the sufferers. He tells R. B.
Wallace that he has a kind of old-fashioned notion that the
militia should never be called out until the civil power has
been exhausted. Then he goes back to his city, though with
sadness, yet certainly with something of the feeling, "It is
more blessed to give than to receive." In this case the chief
magistrate of the State clearly exemplified one of the funda-
mental principles of our government, namely, the subordina-
tion of the military to the civil power.

The great majority of the members of the military company
were sworn in as special constables, and were certainly the
nucleus of the " police force" thus formed. Captain Wm. N.
Mix directed the movements of these men during a portion of
Saturday and all Saturday night, having his quarters in the
armory, and also during Sunday. On Sunday afternoon, at
two o'clock, the company met at their armory, and in full
uniform and under arms, marched to the Catholic cemetery,
where they formed in hollow square outside the line of graves.
They thus kept back the dense and curious crowds until the
burial was over, then they marched back to the armory. They
were, of course, subject to the civil authority. This action
was purely voluntary, but none the less effective, and all the
more praiseworthy.

Below we add a list of special constables ; their pay was
decided upon as fifteen cents per hour, but many refused pay.

E. C. Alluii, Georsre E. Bullock,

Alfred Atkinson, Charles E. Blake,

Albro N. Allen, James Brogden,

J; M. Andrews, H. C. Boutelle,

H. Atkinson, John Brosnan,

Lyman Allen, W. H. Barbour,

Richard Atkinson, C. Blunt,

C. S. Allen, James Cassin,

A. J. Andrews, James Cox,

William T. Butler, Charles O. Charter,

POLICE/ LIQUOR.

53

Thomas Cassin,
R. L. Conklin,
W. Curtis,
W. Cook,

George Dickerman,
William Dickerson,
John Douglas,
A. S. Dickinson,
George Dickinson,
H. W. Davis,
L. L. Edell,
Willis Edell,
George W. Elton,
W. A. Ferry,
John H. Feeley,
William Fitzgeralds,
J. B. Foster,
T. E. Fitzgeralds,
John Fitzgeralds,
W. R. Gilbert,
Thomas Galligan,
James Gaffney,
A. J. Goodrich,
J. I*. Gibbons,
Herbert Ginty,
Edward Gaylord,
Charles Goodell,
Moses P. Hall,
Silas L. Hall,
George Hull,
George Hodgett,
Frederic Hull,
J. A. Hall,
Charles Hull,
C. F. Harwood,
E. C. Hotchkiss,
J. W. Hunt,
Warren Hart,
W. E. Hall,
Samuel Hodgett,
Frank Ives,
Arthur A. Jones,
A. J. Jarrett,
Thomas Kavanaugh,
Joseph Kershaw,

J. B. Kendrick,
P. H. Keene,
William Looby, Jr.,
J. T. Lezmore,
W. f. Leavenworth,
F. L. Lewis,
John Loml)ard,
Edward Leonard,
W. J. Morse,
Edward Murray,
Thomas McKeon,
R. C. Morse,
H. H. Martin,
H. Mansfield, Jr.,
L. M. Monroe,
George D. Munson,
Edward McGuire,
George A. Munson,
William Myers,
Edward Northrop,
Stephen Northrop,
Lewis Nortlirop,
C. O. Norton,
William Norman,
Terence G'Reily,
John O'Reily,
John O'Connell,
Martin O'Connell,
William H. Phillips,
Michael Percell,
Frank Phelps,
W. T. i'erkins,
Thomas Pickford,
E. H. Pratt,
O. E. Powers,
W. J. Peers,
William Ryan,
Andrew Ryan,
W. J. Rice,
David Ross,
James Reynolds,
James Roach,
L. G. Seeley,
S. M. Scranton,
C. E. Smith,

54 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

II. C. Smith, Augustus Tuttlc,

Samuel G. Simpson, Allen Washington,

S. J. Slow, VV. T. Rynn,

A. A. Spcrry, John Rynn,

J. W. Spencer, George W. Woodhouse,

George Simpson, W. J. Ward,

A. W. Sperry, S. T. Whitney,

S. S. Tyler, H. O. Winslow,

Charles Tooth, Jr., James Wheeler,

H. C. Terrell, F. L. Waples,

Sterling Tuttle, William Whitaker,

Edward Talmadge, L. Wheeler,

W. Talcott, E. C. Yale,

Cliarlcs Tooth, Sr., F. Yale. — 13S

In tlic terror and excitement of the disa.ster, all else was
forgotten, but in a few hours the force of habit began to show
itself even then, and not a few soon found, almost by intuition,
the shortest path to the nearest saloon. This betokened
disorder and danger. About 10.30 Friday evening, Patrick
McKenna, going to the saloons which were open, requested
them to close, and this request was promptly heeded. Mr.
McKenna's ready and sensible action all through these
an.xious days merits praise.

At an early hour Saturday morning, several of our nimier-
ous bars were open and doing, as they would say, a thriving
business. Selectman William E. Hall went to the different
saloon-keepers and requested that no liquor be sold during
the day. Such bar-rooms as were open were at once closed.
It required constant vigilance on the part of officers and
other citizens to enforce this request during the rest of the
day. At eleven o'clock the warden of the borough, C. D.
Yale, issued a jjeremptory order that all ])laces where lit[uor
was sold should be closed forthwith, and the only saloon
found open at that time was closed at once. At one o'clock,
Patrick Taylor, Patrick McKenna, and J. B. Kendrick dis-
covered that entrance to several of the saloons was beiug
made at the back door. The two latter persons appeared
before the warden and disclosed the real state of the matter.
In a few earnest words they urged decisive measures. The
subject received the attention of the officers, and Captain

POLICE, LIQUOR. 55

William N. Mix guaranteed that the saloons should be
entirely closed and should remain so during the night. His
efforts in this direction were quite successful. I did not see a
drunken person on Saturday, and my experience is the same
as that of others. This evil, or rather source and fountain of
countless ills, was thus firmly and promptly met, and in this
way much difficulty was entirely prevented.

CHAPTER X.

HOSPITAL— MEETINGS— COMMITTEES AND THEIR WORK-
CONTRIBUTIONS.

ON Saturday, tlie clay succeeding the tornado, two
vacant rooms on the first floor of the town hall build-
ing began to be used as a hospital. The hospital had a life
of just seven days. It began on Saturday and on another
Saturday its last two patients evacuated the building and
took up quarters in the New Haven hospital. At first it was
doubtless a necessity, but as the patients became improved,
they were better off with their friends, and the few severe
and dangerous cases were likely to receive better attention in
a city hospital. Dr. Banks thinks that if the hospital had
continued there would have been fatal cases of hospital gan-
grene. From the very first, many of the injured were cared
for by relatives and neighbors, so that the number of patients
was at no time large. The largest number there at any one
time is given as fourteen. Thomas Pickford rendered valu-
able aid in hospital affairs, and Capt. M. D. Munson's services
were wise and efficient.

Saturday, at 9 o'clock in the morning, the bell was rung,
but it failed to call many to the town hall, as they were too
busy or too excited to come ; however, the selectmen's room
was filled, and C. D. Yale, warden of the borough, presided,
and W. J. Leavenworth was appointed secretary. Little was
said, but all knew and felt that decisive and energetic meas-
ures were justly demanded of our officers. The borough
officers, together with the selectmen, were empowered to
take such action as they deemed best. Hezekiah Hall
echoed the sentiment, and thought of all when he said, " Our
officers of the town and borough need no instructions ; they
were elected for this and every emergency which might arise.
Let them act, and no one will hesitate about sustaining them."

COMMITTEES AND CONTRIBUTIONS. 57

The clergy of the town were appointed to collect funds. All
through this day Mr. Yale, the Borough Warden, was at his
post, directing the movements of the workers under his
charge, sending to various cities for aid, and in general act-
ing with promptness and efficiency.

At 2 p. M. of the same day, a meeting of ladies and gentle-
men was held in the town hall. L. M. Hubbard was
appointed chairman, and H. L. Hall, secretary. Rev. J. E.
Wildman stated that we were met to devise measures for
relieving the suffering and needy. The result of the meeting
was the appointment of the following committees :

For ascertaining the various needs of tJte snjferers. — Mrs.
M. W. Foote, Mrs. Robert H. Cowles, Mrs. C. H. Barbour,
Eugene H. Pratt, Rev. J. E. Wjldman.

For soliciting articles of clot/iing, etc. — Mrs. Friend C.
Allen, Mrs. O. I. Martin, Miss Lilla Atwater, Miss Mattie
Judd, Mrs. Burdon.

Committee for nurses. — Mrs. Albert Hallenbeck, Mrs. J.
C. Mansfield, Mrs. Stanley Botsford, Thomas Pickford, M. D.
Munson.

Several times during the meeting, word came that the
injured and wounded needed prompt attention, so urgent was
the necessity.

The meeting empowered the warden to telegraph to the
neighboring cities for aid. The following call for aid was
sent to the mayors of New Haven, Hartford, Meriden, Bridge-
port, Norwich, New London, Norwalk, Stamford, Middletown,
and New Britain :

Wali.ixgford. August loth.
To the Mayor :

A tornado has rendered a large number of our people destitute and
suffering. Can anything be done in your churches to-morrow for their
relief ?

C. D. YALE, U',jrdt'7i.

Responses were received from the Mayor of Waterbury,

Mr. Boughton ; G. Williams, acting Mayor of New London ;

H. Wales Lines, Mayor of Meriden ; from W. & B. Douglas,

for Mayor Douglas of Middletown, and Frank Sumner, for

8

58 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

Mayor Sumner of Hartford ; Mayors Douglas, Sumner, and
Waller of New London, and Shelton of New Haven, were
out of town. Mayor Shelton did not receive his dispatch
until too late to take action on Saturday. The Mayor of
Meriden telegraphed as follows :

MERiDf:N. August roth.
diaries D. Yale, Wallingford :

Public meeting already called at town hall tliis morning. I trust
the result will be substantial evidence of our sympathy.

H. WALES LINES. Mayor.

All the responses promised effort and aid.

The committees of ladies and gentlemen appointed at this
meeting of ours worked with heart and will, and some of
them devoted many hours of days and nights to their work.

Provisions and supplies of clothing were received at the
town hall for the few days following, and were dispensed
from there ; afterward the basement of the Congregational
church was used for this purpose.

L. M. Hubbard and Rev. J. E. Wildman were appointed to
attend the meeting in Meriden in the evening, an.d to state
our condition. The assembly then adjourned to meet on
Monday evening at 7.30.

On Monday evening the town hall was well filled, when
L. M. Hubbard took the chair. The secretary being absent,
Andrew Andrews was appointed secretary/;'^ tern, on motion
of Gurdon W. Hull. A report of the condition and needs
of the sufferers was made by J. E. Wildman. Twenty-five
families are in a condition of more or less destitution, the
large majority being stripped of every earthly possession, and
some even of what they had on at the time, besides being
severely injured in various wa)'s. One girl, just returned
from work, was not only seriously wounded by timbers when
hurled from the house, but was stripped of every particle of
clothing, including a pair of corsets.

Rev. J. E. Wildman stated that the committee would be at
the town hall on Tuesday frotn 8 to 1 1 o'clock a. m., and from
3 to 5 p. M., to receive and to distribute clothing to the needy
and destitute.

COMMITTEES AND CONTRIBUTIONS. 59

A letter from Rev. J. H. Beale was read, stating that
$202.96 had been received by him on Saturday as the result
of his appeals, and had been placed in the Dime Savings
Bank.

It was voted that an executive committee of elev^en be
appointed to take charge of the funds, and five persons were
appointed to nominate for this committee. The committee
on nominations were appointed by the Chair as follows :
Rev. J. E. Wildman, M. D. Munson, Dr. B. F. Harrison,
William N. Mix, and Hezekiah Hall. They reported the fol-
lowing names, which were accepted : Samuel Simpson, L. M.
Hubbard, Henry L. Hall. Rev. J. E. Wildman, Dr. B. F.
Harrison, Morton Judd, Hezekiah Hall, Bennett Jeralds,
Rev. Hugh Mallon, H. S. Hall, John Kendrick.

W. J. Leavenworth, William N. Mix, and Clarence Brown
were appointed a committee to collect money from teams
passing through town.

Harvey S. Hall urged the appointment of persons to have
charge of booths, and urged that our families should send in
food, so that the entire proceeds might go to the relief fund.
This was a wise suggestion.

The following were appointed a committee on booths and
refreshments : Mrs. James Northrop, Mrs. Emory Morse,
Mrs. Horace Austin, Miss Lilla C. Hall, Messrs. John Upson,
Henry Wooding, Harvey S. Hall, William Munson, J. M.
Andrus, Amos Dickerson.

The booths took in considerable money for the sufferers ;
indeed, before this meeting of Monday evening, cakes and
other refreshments had been sold at the school-house grounds
for the benefit of the general fund. Ex-Mayor H. G. Lewis
of New Haven, paid ten dollars for a cup of coffee, and L.
M. Hubbard two dollars for a like refreshment.

Samuel Simpson suggested the appointment of some per-
son to write a history of this disaster, and thought it desirable
that such a manuscript be deposited in the town vaults.
John B. Kendrick was appointed, on motion of J. C. Mans-
field. It was late, and after remarks by several, the meeting
adjourned.

60 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

The executive committee of eleven soon began its work,
and it was no longer necessary to hold mass meetings.

This executive committee, together with the selectmen and
borough officers, met the next evening in L. M. Hubbard's
office. They organized by appointing Samuel Simpson presi-
dent, W. J. Leavenworth secretary, and Dr. B. F. Harrison
treasurer. Hezekiah Hall, William E. Hall, and John Ken-
drick were appointed a sub-committee to supply the immedi-
ate wants of the needy and suffering. This sub-committee
met every afternoon from four to six at Captain Kendrick's
office to hear and to supply wants. Stoves, bedsteads, beds,
chairs, crockery, clothing, shoes, food, etc., were supplied by
this committee. The larger committee continued to hold
their meetings, at first every evening, then only three eve-
nings each week. Their work was to consider cases of loss,
to order payment of moneys, and to transact business of like
character.

The clergy had been appointed on Saturday morning to
receive gifts for the suffering, and acted in this capacity.
On Sunday, collectors, wuth suitable badges on their hats,
were busy at the corners and crowded places seeking and
obtaining money to be used for the needy and destitute. On
Monday and Wednesday, many of our citizens became col-
lectors and did good service. At the citizens' meeting on
Saturday afternoon, Rev. J. H. Beale stated that contributions
for the sufferers would be taken up on Sunday in many of the
Methodist churches of our State. Throughout the State, in
many churches of various denominations, offerings were made
for our homeless and injured ones. Some of these cities and
towns nobly came to our assistance in this time of sore
distress and affliction. Meriden was prompt to begin the
work of systematic aid. Her prominent citizens held an
earnest meeting on Saturday evening. Ex-mayor Lewis pre-
sided. O. B. Arnold and John S. Butler were appointed to
select soliciting committees for each ward. L. M. Hubbard
and Rev. J. E. Wildman were present to advise and also to
portray our terrible condition and pressing needs.

A number of prominent men of New Haven met in the

COMMITTEES AND CONTRIBUTIONS.

6i

Mayor's office on Monday evening to consider plans for
aiding us. Mayor Shelton spoke from what he had seen of
the ruin, and urged New Haven to give all possible aid.
Mayor Shelton was appointed chairman, and Seth T. Seeley
secretary. Ex-mayor H. G. Lewis spoke in graphic terms of
the ruin and the misery ; he urged prompt action in favor of
our friends in need, in woe, and in the deepest distress.
Action in our favor was taken in Hartford also.

The treasurer, B. F. Harrison, M. D., gives me the following
list of money paid into the fund uj^ to Sept. 29 :

Governor R. D. Hubbard, $ioo.

Wallingford Community, loo.

Stiles Hotchkiss, Wolcott, 5.

Contributions, 7.

Morton Judd, 100.

George Wliittelsey, 100.

Joseph F. Noyes, 10.

Richard Talbot, 2,

E. Whitvvorth, 5.

E. May, 2.

Sarah Carrington, 10,

Sarah K. Carrington, 5.

Park St. Cong. Ch., Bridgeport, 24
Fairfield M. E. Ch , Bridgeport, 18,
South and North Cong. Chs.,

Bridgeport, 72.

First Baptist Ch., Bridgeport, 14.
E.Wash. Av. Bap. Ch., Bridgeport, 8.
Trinity Epis. Ch., Waterbiuy, 32
William Brown, Waterbury,
H. B. Bigelow & Co., N. Haven,
Wash. Park Ch., New Haven,
J. N. Harris, New London,
New Britain churches,
Mr. Russell, New York city,
S. E. Merwiii, New Haven,
St. John's Epis. Ch., Bridgeport,
Willard Hopkins, Naugatuck,
Contrib. through J. H. Beale,
Contrib. through Mrs. J. H. Beale,
" Cash," Waterbury, 2

D. C. Sheehan, 10

Jos. A. Sheffield, New Haven, 100,
N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R. Co., 3,854
Collected by John Mix, 6.

" G. M. Wallace, 9,

100

19

50,

73
20,

50'
71

-5'
202,

Collected by G. K. Carrington, $25.61

" D. W. Ives, 30.00

" Geo. D. Munson, 1375

'• S. J. Stow, 2.71

W^ B. Walson, 4.35

C. B. Erwin, New Britain, loo.oo

Collected by Wm. H. Munson, 26.00

Mrs. William Elton, 5 00

F. B. Bartholomew, 3.00

W. L. Larue, i.oo

Frank Northrop, i.oo

William Tillson, Willimantic, 10.00

L. Pomeroy, lo.oo

James M. Torbert, 2^0

Mrs. F. W. Hubbard, 5.00

Mrs. J. E. Wildman, 5.00

Mrs. O. Cannon, 2.80

T. Pickford, i.oo

F. Ebert, i.oo

"Cash," North Haven, 2.00

Unknown, 4.00

Collections of G. I. Mix, 16.42
Mrs. D.M.Stone, Brooklyn, N.Y., 10.00

Rev. Mr. Thorn, New Haven, 5.C0

Episcopal Church, Middletown, 90.45

Mr. Page, Naugatuck, 10.00

Mr. Cowles, Farmington, 5.00

Cash, .50

Rufus S. Uoolittle, 10.00
Young people S. Bapt. Ch., Hart., 25 00
St. Mary's Cath. Ch., N. London, 100.00

St. James Epis. Ch., N. London, 55.76

First Bapt. Ch , New London, 34.00

Second Cong. Ch., N. London, 51.50

Second Bapt. Ch., N. London, 6.00

Third Bapt. Ch , N. London, 17.00

62

HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

M. E. Church, New London, $12.00
Methodist Clmrch, Stamford, 29.28

St. Andrew's Ch., Stamford, 2.00

St. John's Church, Stamford, 12.00

Praise Meeting, Guilford, 74.34

Sales of food by Jno. Upson and

others,
Emily Dutton,
Col. H. B. Carrington, Craw-

fordsville, Ind.,
Willis Warner, Brooklyn, N.Y.,
St. James Epis. Parish, Westville
St. Michael's E. Ch., Naugatuck
Grace Church, Long Hill,
Christ Epis. Church, Tashua,
Prof. Yardley, Middletown,
B. R. Townsend,
Mrs. King, New Haven,
Cong. Sunday-sch., Voluntown,
First Cong. Ch., New London,
Mrs. E. P. Hotchkiss, Plantsville
"Cash,"

Cong. Ch. and citizens, Middle-
town,
Cash, Bridgeport,
John Upson,

Geo. H. Watrous, New Haven,
J. E. Nugent,
F. Hubbard, Durham,
Ch. of St. Augustine, Bridgeport,
Methodist Church, Waterbury,
Elisha Whittelsey,
Stranger, Meriden,
Father Fagan, Naugatuck,
Rev. H. Mallon, from Hartford,
City of New Haven, by Mayor

Wm. R. Sheltop,
George D. Allen,
Nathan Peck, by Samuel Peck,

New PLiven, 20.00

Henry Farnam, by Samuel Peck,
New Haven, 200.00

;,29.S2
15.00

10.00

50.00

, 8.50

, 22.00

14.30

7.00

1. 00

10.00

2.30

^332

4S.98

, ].00

1.50

255-3^^
2.50

30.00

25.00

100.00

2.00

83.00

28.00

100 00

r.oo

25.00

200.00

152.99
2.00

Hon. C. D. Vale, $100.00

First Church", Waterbury, i.oo

Trinity P. E. Ch., Bridgeport, 43.52

Jno. W. Andrews, Columbus, O., 50.00

Catholic Church, New Britain, 90.00

G. Williams and son, N. London, 3.50

Jos. Parker and son, N. Haven, 25.00

Baptist Church, Stamford, 46.00

Collections by Geo. D. Munson, 13.00
Citizens of New Haven, 2,000.00
Citizens of Meriden, 1,929.58

Frances J. Curtis, 500.00

I). Camp, contributions, N. Brit., 11.00

H. S. White, Middletown, 2.00

Christ Church, Norwicli, 16.01

Park Church, Norwich, 33-52

P'irst Cong. Church, Norwich, 41.00

Trinity Church, Norwich, 7.62

Taftville Church, Norwich, 4.00

Cash, Middlefield, 2.10

E. E. Marvin, Hartford, 10.00

Cong. Church, Pequonnoc, 16.63

Samuel Simpson, 500.00

First Cong. Ch., Lyme, 16.00

Patrick McKenna, 5.00

Second Cong. Ch., Waterbury, 88. 4S
"Contributions,' l)y G. II. Woods,

Hartford, 322.01

J. R. Davis, Bridgeport, i.oo

Christ Church, Guilford, 23.56

Rev. A. N. Lewis, Wesiport, 13.10
Dime Savings Bank, "Contiibu-

butions," 692 46
Dime Savings Bank, " ('ontribu-

tions," "Trade Dollars," 30.00

Wm. Murry, 500

First Cong. Sunday School, 9 50

P. T. Ives, 25.00
Mr. Hugo, collections, sent by

Mayor Wm. R. Shelton, New

Haven, 45- 5°

Amount, $14,529.41

A Waterbury bank has on deposit more than $500 to be
expended under the special direction of our clergy, so that it
is clearly seen that more than jg 15,000 in money have been
contributed to aid us in this fearful calamity. It is the pur-
pose of the committee, when they close their labors, to pass

CO]\rM[TTEES AND CONTRIBUTIONS. 63

an unexpended balance of several hundred dollars into the
hands of the acting clergy of our village, to be added to the
contribution from Waterbury, and to be expended during the
autumn and winter chiefly for clothing.

Besides these sums, other moneys are pledged and will
soon be paid. After the necessary expenditures for burial
and for immediate necessities, the remainder, except a small
reserve fund, will be apportioned to the losers according to
their loss and their need.

In Yalesville, a large supply of clothing and groceries was
given and distributed among the sufferers.

Captain S. P. Crafts of Quinnipiac, gives five thousand
bricks.

L. Strauss & Son of New York, give a cask of crockery.

The Middlesex Orphanage offered to take some of the
children without charge, but other disposition was made of
them.

The School for Nurses in New Haven makes no charge
for the assistance given.

E. H. Ives gives $ioo for the relief of John Munson.

Hezekiah Hall expended from his private purse, S28.00 for
the relief of the deserving and needy, instead of adding that
amount to the general fund.

The workmen of the Community, forty-four in number,
give the wages of one day's work (and A. A. Spcrry that of
two) for the relief of the Tracy children. This gives seventy-
five dollars.

The Hartford Courant gives the proceeds from the sale of
five hundred copies.

Numerous other offerings of materials, etc., were made.

The loss is estimated at $150,000, and falls chiefl}^ on
private property.

We give below the list of losses as estimated by the
Committee on Losses. The value of the property is given
without reference to mortgages, but the amount each loser
will receive depends upon his real loss, varying from 20 to 30
per cent, on the loss.

This committee is Samuel Simpson, Hezekiah Hall, H.
B. Todd, W. J. Leavenworth.

64

HISTORY OF THE WALLTNGFORD DISASTER.

OWNER.

James Curran, - - - -
John George Giasser,
Michael Cateii. - - -
John Ginty, -----
Patrick O'Neil, - - -
Charles Paden, - - -
Michael Looby, - - -
Patrick Cough lin, - - -
Barney Cassicly, - - -
Win. Looby, Jr., - - -
John Lynch, - - - -
Matthew Cassen's heirs,
Patrick Cline, - - - -
Conrad Tracy's heirs, -
Mrs. John Lee, - - - -
James Lee, -----
Daniel Toohy's heirs, -
Dennis Redmond, - -
Mrs. Hurley, - - - -
John Munson, on Plains,
Henry Jones, - - - -
Mrs. George Munson, -
Mrs. William Gallagher, -
John Ives, -----
N. C. Hall, -----
Mary Cline, -----
John Redmond, - - -
Mrs. A. Wolcott. - - -

LOSS.

Si,35o

2,250

1,800

600

900

900

900

900

900

900

900

3,200

2,000

900

1,400

3oOo

1,800

250

600

2,000

1,350
600
600

375
600
100
100
150

OWNER.

James Slowman, - - -

Joel Paddock, - - - -

Samuel Peck, - - - -

Hermann Vasseur, - -

Samuel B. Farmlee, - -
John Munson, ALain street,

William M. Hall, - - -

Chauncey Hough, - - -

Mrs. Friend Miller. - -

Mrs. Fanny Ives, - - -

Elijah Williams, - - -
John Lewis, -----

Thomas Gallagher, - -

J. R. Campbell, - - -

Thomas Wrynn. - - -
Peter Lee, -----
Philo. Parker's heirs,

Mrs. Ellen Coffee, - -

William Hayden, - - -

Edward Hayden, - - -

William Cook, - - - -
Hall Brothers, butchers,

John Atwater, - - - -

E. B. Miller, - - - -

Maria Cassin, - - - -

James Rynn, - - - -

Mrs. T. O'Reily, - - -

Amount, - - - -

Public Buildings, -----

Trees, — Fruit, .Shade, and Ornamental,
Fences, -------

Wagons, and other vehicles, . _ -

Farming and Gardening Implements, -
Furniture and Household Goods,
Clothing, Money, Books. Pictures, Albums, etc..

Amount, ------

LOSS

$150

1,125

300

1,600

5,250
4,500

- 1,350
1,200

- i>35o

600
550
150
225
350
400
22t;
200
150
150
100
150
300
150

- 2,000

800

100

200

55,250

$25,000

25,000

8,000

1,500

1,500

10,000

10.000

$136,250

Besides the destruction of the CathoHc church and the in-
jury done to the school-house, thirty houses were completely
destroyed ; fourteen houses were severely injured ; fifteen
barns were destroyed, and a number were seriously damaged.
Of course, the real loss is not so much in houses and in barns
as in homes destroyed, in the dearest ties rudely broken, and
in ghastly death.

CHAPTER XI.

RELICS— INCIDENTS.

THIS hurricane, as it hastened oceanward, left on its
way many messages from us, telling of what strange
work it had been doing here. Shingles and pieces of timber
and boards lay strewn in field and wood for miles eastward.
Clothing of all kinds was picked up here and there, much of
it uninjured by the storm which had carried it. Veils, a quilt,
mat, shirts, pieces of printed books, receipts, skirts, and,
indeed, articles of every kind that are found in well-regulated
families, were picked up miles away. Near Hezekiah Hall's,
on East Farms, a trunk-cover was picked up. A man living
three miles or more east of the Plains says that he saw a blind
high in the air, moving eastward with lightning rapidity.
Willis Stevens, living at least three miles east of the churches,
found in that vicinity a geography leaf containing a descrip-
tion of hurricanes. A board sixteen feet long, was carried
from some house here and dropped into the house of Walter
Hart, in Durham ; his house was unroofed just in time to
receive this relic. A long roof -board was deposited on the
premises of Henry Page, in Durham. A piece of the tin-
roof of the school-house was picked up in Haddam, twelve
miles away. The most remarkable case of this kind of
travel is the journey of a piece of paper owned by Patrick
Cline.

On Saturday morning, R. G. Hazard, 2d, of Peacedale,
R. I., while walking in a retired path near his home, picked
up a receipt, of which we give a copy :

[Copy.]

Wallingford, Nov. 24, '76.
Received from Mr. P. Cline ten dollars 00-100 in full of Account.

James JMcClaknan.
9

66 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

He saw, as soon as he reached his office, an account of our
tornado, published in the Providence Journal, of which he
is a correspondent, and read the name of John CUne among
the injured. He sent the receipt to the yotirnal, which pub-
lished a copy of it, together with an account of its discovery.
Mr. Hazard, writing to the Journal, says :

" Immediately after deciphering the paper, my eye fell upon the head-
ing in this morning's Journal : 'A Tornado in Wallingford, Conn.,' and
on reading over the account I found the name of JoJiii Cliiic among the
list of injured. The town clerk of this town iiappening in soon after,
was asked whether any such names were familiar to him as l)elonging to
any residents of this town. He replied that he knew of no such names
in this vicinity. Wallingford is about si.xty-live miles, as the crow flies,
from Peacedale, and is due west of this village. Whether this bit of
torn and wet paper was carried on the wings of the storm for that dis-
tance, and iinally deposited where it was found, or whether it came
there by other means, it seems probable that the hurricane invaded the
premises of Mr. P. Cline and abstracted the document from his file, for
what purpose I will leave you to conjecture. If Mr. Cline will claim his
paper I will return it to him with pleasure, hoping, however, not to send
it ' by the same hand.' "

Judge O. I. Martin, of this town, upon seeing the published
article, wrote as follows :

" Having read a copy of a receipt in vour ]:)aper, signed by James
McClarnan, in full of account of Patrick Cline, I will now tell you that I
am well acquainted with both James McClarnan and Patrick Cline.
They both belong in Wallingford. Patrick Cline's new house was blown
to the four winds of heaven, with all his furniture, with three feather
beds and all the clothing for four children, and trunks, etc. The timbers
of the house even cannot be found, nor anything else. There was fifty
dollars in money in one drawer where the receipt was. If tlie tinder of
the receipt should find the fifty dollars near there, it would be very
acceptable to the family."

Upon receipt of this letter, the Journal made an appeal to
its readers to send in contributions, so that the lost fifty dol-
lars could be replaced. The appeal was not without effect,
and in a few days Judge Martin received a graceful note
from the editor, enclosing the receipt, and a check, to keep it
company, for fifty-five dollars for the benefit of Patrick Cline.
The original receipt will be kept in the Historical Rooms at

RELICS, INCIDENTS. 6/

Providence, R. I. The moral seems to be : Keep your receipts ;
but if you don't keep them, send them to Rhode Island.

The following is from the Wallingford Forum :

The saddest scene witnessed by the Forum reporter,
Friday night, was in the little brown building on Colony
street, where the Tracy family were taken early in the even-
ing. On the floor near the door lay Mrs. Conrad Tracy,
horribly mangled, but still alive. Moaning with pain, on a
lounge near by, lay a 1 6-year-old daughter badly injured,
suffering excruciating pains from many hurts, while on the
floor near by were three small children, badly hurt, crying
and moaning in their agonies, and Father Mallon was trying
to administer comfort to the afflicted family. The rain was
pouring in torrents, and the lightning was fitfully flashing
outside. At one bright flash and roar of thunder Mrs. Tracy
faintly asked Father Mallon, " Is the hurricane coming
ao^ain .? " Father Mallon assured her that God had visited
his children severely, but that no more need be feared that
night. All this while one of the little girls was crying,
"Where is papa — when will he come.?" The poor father at
the time was lying dead just outside of the same house. It
was a scene long to be remembered.

A singular incident, noticeable in the track of any whirl-
wind, is that the feathers are plucked from the chickens,
and in several instances the fowl are not killed. This is
due to the fact that there is much difference in the specific
gravity of fowl and feather, and that in such a sudden gust,
the lighter body — the feathers — start on their triji with the
whirlwind before the chicken has time to start. This theory
has been worked out by scientific men, who have proved it to
be correct by loading a fowl in a cannon, with a light charge
of powder. When the cannon was exploded the feathers
were blown entirely off the fowl.

Professor Brewer has carried home as relics some turtle
eggs, which the tornado had thrown out of the sandbank,
alongside of the Community pond, where they had been
deposited by some turtle for hatching purposes.

On the evening of the cyclone, Rev. J. E. Wildman picked

68 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

up a case containing" two gold watches belonging to Mr. and
Mrs. John Munson. These watches were uninjured, though
in the breaking up of the house they had been thrown into
the middle of the road, a distance of many feet.

It will be remembered that in the last legislature Mr.
Charles D. Yale, now warden of the borough of Wallingford,
made a strong effort to secure State aid for the sufferers in
the town of Stafford Springs, from the breaking away of the
Staffordville dam. He spoke very feelingly on the subject,
and warmly commended the measure, little expecting at the
time that his own town would be the one that would suffer
next from the fury of the elements.

The freaks of the cyclone were, many of them, curious
enough, and we have stated nothing except what is capable
of abundant and complete proof. It requires some credulity
to accept the account of the man who says that as he was
riding along he was thrown from his buggy, while his horse,
besides suffering other misfortunes, had the iron shoes torn
from his feet !

Although every one who lived in the destroyed district has
been found either dead or alive, yet one woman thoroughly
believes that some bodies will yet be found which have been
carried, as she thinks, many miles away.

There were some grimly humorous eft'ects amidst all the
sad havoc of the disaster, as for instance, to see still prominent
on the ruined school-house the words, " Notice," that any
injury to the building, whether from malice or negligence,
would be punished by fine or imprisonment ; antl again, to
see " Insured in the Hartford " on a little brass plate over the
door of a nearly demolished dwelling.

A goat, tied to a long rope, was raised high in the air, and
looked like a great kite. As soon as the cyclone passed by,
he came to the ground at once, and without even a look of
surprise bent his head to the earth and went on with his reg-
ular work of eating grass.

The following is too good to be lost: A good orthodox
deacon from a neighboring village visited the scene of the
disaster the day after it occurred. Seeing a poor, forlorn.

RELICS, INCIDENTS. 69

helpless, bandaged victim sitting on the heap of kindling-
wood which but the day before had been his home, the deacon
said : " My poor fellow, how do you account for the fact that
none but Catholics were killed yesterday ? " Without hesi-
tation, Pat replied : " Sure and it's aisy enough accountin' for
that ; the Catholics are ready to die any minute, but your
folks ain't good enough to go suddint like."

CHAPTER XII.

THE CYCLONE— DESCRIPTION AS GIVEN BY EYE-WITNESSES
—STATEMENT OF PROF. WILLIAM H. BREWER— THEORY
OF THE STORM.

THE rise of the storm was seen by different persons in
various parts of the town. G. N Miller of the Com-
munity, while sitting upon the veranda, saw the huge black
cloud moving from the north, and while watching it as it
demolished their windmill, had his attention quickly called to
the lake, where another mass of cloud of inky blackness,
moving from the southwest, met the northern clouds ; here
they seemed to poise themselves, seething and roaring and
forming a waterspout, funnel-shaped, and with the smaller
end in the water. This waterspout was not straight, but
bent and twisted in various directions, not for a moment
remaining in the same form. The body of this mass was
densely black, while the top was lurid and even white.

J. H. Frost was in Main street near Mr. Simpson's, on
his way home. He was especially alarmed by the forked
lightning which seemed to make directly for him as it darted
forward.

Samuel Peck and Hermann Vasseur give good descriptions
of the storm.

Selectman William E. Hall was at his home on the east
farms, and saw the progress of the cyclone. He says nobody
can ever describe how it looked.

One of the best accounts of the tornado that has been
given is that told by Elbridgc Doolittle, a bright, intelligent
boy of about fourteen, living on Center street, about midway
between the Plains and Main street. He happened to
be sitting at a rear window in the second story of the house,
and had his head out, watching the chain lightning which

iiiiiiniii'iiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiin

DESCRIPTION AND THEORY OF THE STORM. /I

was playing about the Baptist church. His story in his own
words will best give an idea of what he saw :

" I saw the lightning flashing, and then heard a queer
noise, and turned around and looked over to the lake, in
which direction there was a rumbling and rolling noise.
There was a crash, and then something shot up into the sky
that looked like a cloud of smoke, and was so thick that I
couldn't see through it. There was an awful roar, and it
came along about five rods, and then there were pieces of
board and shingles and pieces of roof, I should think that
were about so big [measuring off a place about five feet
square]. Those I suppose came from Grasser's shop. The
tornado, or whatever you call it, was about as wide as a house
is long, and kept whirling round and round, being a good
deal bigger at the top than at the bottom. It swept along
awfully fast and tapered down at the bottom, like a balloon,
with a long tail stringing under it, out of which a stream of
water kept running, just like it would out of a tunnel. The
tail kept swinging and whipping around like a snake. After
it got well started the boards began to get thicker in it, and
it struck something else, and things were lifted right up into
the air and came scudding along until it reached the Catholic
church, and that and tlie houses on the Plains went over just
as tall grass blows down when a stifif wind blows across it.
The buildings didn't weave at all, but went right over, some
going up into the air, and it seemed to me as if the tail had
twisted right around them and lifted them up. When it got
opposite our house the thing was terribly black and thick,
and was full of timbers, which kept turning end over end
instead of spinning around like a top. It was full of limbs
of trees, too, and they looked like big kites with the leaves
at the top, and the limbs or trunks hanging down like the tail
to a kite. Every little while the stuff in the air would drop
and another building would be picked up and thrown around.
The tail kept dragging along the ground and all moved very
rapidly, there being no stop until it reached the school-house.
Then I thought it stopped for a second or two, as if the school-
house was tno big for it, but it went up into the air, and the

fOi-/"

72 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

tail seemed to wind around the school-house, I could see it
so plainly. After it had wound around the school-house, it
started again with an awful roar, and instead of blowing over,
it lifted the top of the school-house right up into the air.
Part of it dropped back again after it had got up a little ways,
but the biggest part seemed to start on with the tornado.
After it left the school-house, I lost sight of it. I should
think it took about three minutes for the whole thing to come
from the lake to the school-house."

This ended his story, which is certainly the most graphic
description of the affair that has been given.

Those who saw the tornado quite generally agree in regard-
ing this as a good description.

Rev. R. J. Adams says that the scene was grand beyond
all description.

The New Haven Register oi Tuesday, August 13th, says :

'■ Professor William H. Brewer, of the Sheffield Scientific school,
visited the scene of the disaster yesterday for the purpose of making
scientific observations of the work of the whirlwind, for that is what
it was, tliough it was an unusually strong and severe one. The term
tornado, applied to such atmospheric phenomena being the Spanish
word signifying to turn. There is no good theory as to the cause of the
terrible commotions and their terrific force, and it is not possible of
explanation how there can be such a wonderful concentration of energ)^
as was shown in Wallingford. This whirlwind was a mass of air and
water, of funnel shape, with the broad part of the funnel uppermost.
The greatest force in this moving mass is just at the point of this fun-
nel-shaped mass, and on the edges of the broader part, the center or
vortex being comparatively calm. This funnel-shaped whirlwind passed
up the embankment by the pond to the level ground, a distance of
thirty-five feet, and then began its work of destruction, its path, as indi-
cated by the fences, trees, etc., being only three hundred feet in width.
As it moved along the rising ground its point was broken off, and by the
time it had reached the railroad track its path was less than six hundred
feet in width. It increased a hundred feet in width when it reached
Colony street, and its point then did its most violent work across the
Plains, but the width here cannot be ascertained. As it struck tlie hill
tlie ])()int grew shorter and shorter, and it was shaved off, as it were,
nearly up to the funnel proper, for the width at Main street was one
thousand three hundred feet. Then the professor thinks it became split
in part, and lost its force, in great part, as it swept down a very wide
path across Elm street and to the mountain beyond, where it broke.

DESCRIPTION AND THEORY OF THE STORM. 73

The general direction of the whirlwind was east-southeast. Points
that he noted to prove that it was a whirlwind were that all the trees
south of Christian street were drawn inward towards its track, while the
twisting of John Simond's house, referred to in the Register yesterday,
proved plainly that there was a whirhng motion. At the foot of the
hill, nearly everything thrown down was thrown toward the east. The
mud spattered on the houses on Main and Elm streets was for the most
part on the east and south sides, though there were spatters on the north
and west sides, which proves the rotar}- motion of the winds. The mud,
by the way, Professor Brewer thinks did not all come from the pond, but
was in great part licked up along the route and carried over on the hill.
The greater mass of the water sucked out of the pond was dropped on the
Plains, proofs of this fact being that the roots of trees torn from the
ground down there were washed perfectly clean, while the roots of those
on the hill were covered with dirt. He is also of the opinion that some
of the houses on the Plains were destroyed by the mass of water carried
along for a short distance, probably no further than the base of the
hill. Professor Brewer goes to Wallingford again to-morrow, and will
try and find where the vortex of the whirlwind was, and settle if pos-
sible whether there was a comparative calm in the vortex of the whirl-
wind. He says that the story of the affair as told by the boy Elbridge
Doolittle is a perfectly reliable account of just what did happen, and
just how the whirlwind acted."

I think that but little water was taken from the lake. It
was reported that dead fish from the lake were found on the
Plains and hillside ; but there is no evidence, so far as I
know, that such was the fact ; and if water in any quantity
had been taken up from the lake, of course fish would have
been taken with it. Roots were washed clean by the drench-
ing fall of rain, not by the water from the lake. Roots of
trees four miles from the lake were washed in exactly the
same way. The trees in Elm street had earth clinging to
their roots. This was evidently owing to the fact that the
earth was heavier and clayey, and also because the roots
were protected by branches, etc.

After a careful consideration of the facts, I think that the
storm was by no means local, but that our cyclone or curve
storm was simply a phase or peculiarity of a vast storm,
moving from the west, rising in Canada and Northern New
York, and perhaps even farther west, and meeting a storm
from the southwest. Some damage was done in other por-
10

74 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

tions of this State, both east and west, and also in Rhode
Island. In Massachusetts, many houses were injured, trees
broken, and crops destroyed. No serious damage was done
in Boston, but in the northern section of the State the losses
were considerable. At Woburn, lightning struck the railroad
station, instantly killing Josiah Lathe, station-master.

At Rye Beach, New Hampshire, acres of trees were blown
down, and the bath-houses were blown into the sea. These
facts show clearly that a general storm existed, of which this
cyclone was merely one phenomenon.

It is now a well-understood law that the natural direction
of all bodies when acted on by any force is in a straight line,
but when the moving body is subjected to some other force
which at every instant tends to move it in some other direc-
tion, then the body moves in a curve. Thus the earth, if
it moved under the action of its own velocity would pass
through space in a straight line, but the attraction due to the
sun and other heavenly bodies causes the earth's orbit to be
a curve. Now since there are many and different currents
of air in constant activity in the storm regions of the atmos-
phere, I think it possible and even necessary that very many
of our storms should be rotary in their movements. Perhaps,
indeed, all storms are rotary, and at the same time pro-
gressive.

In 183 1, William C. Redfield of New York, from a large
mass of observations demonstrated that there is a laiv of
storms, and showed that storms in this hemisphere move from
east to west — that is, against the hands of a watch. Hence
this must have been the direction of the curvature of our
storm. It is believed that these grand and terrible move-
ments often occur in the upper air while the surface of the
earth escapes.

One writer says : "Our coast storms are all fringes of high
cyclones which rush from the West Indian tropics up the
Atlantic shores, and across the ocean to die on the coasts of
Europe."

From careful observation I am convinced that merely the
edges of the two local storms rnet over the lake, but that they

DESCRIPTION AND THEORY OF THE STORM 75

came together with their full volume and intensity just west
of the railroad track. One storm came from the north by
east and another from southwest. The direction of the pro-
gressive movement of the cyclone was east-southeast, indi-
cating that the momentum of the two gales was nearly
equal. The velocity appears to have been from sixty to
seventy-five miles per hour. The rotary nature of the storm
explains why trees lie in different directions, just as when a
wagon passes through a muddy road, as the rim of the wheel
leaves the earth mud is thrown backward while the opposite
rim is throwing the mud forward. Where trees near one
another lie in different directions, probably the curves of the
storm cut one another.

As one evidence of the curve movement, William E. Hall
says that his weather-vane seemed to move in every direction.
It seems clear that the longer axis of the curve was at right
angles to the progressive motion of the cyclone. Here and
there were offshoots from the cyclone, like tangents from
a curve. These would take a tree or barn perchance and
then disappear, either losing force or ascending. This the-
ory explains why Samuel Simpson lost his chimney and a
number of trees, while his neighbors were unharmed ; it also
explains why a large tree in Academy street fell toward the
northeast while no injury was done near it ; it also explains
why Mrs. Randall Cooke's barn was destroyed, and why
Thomas Galligan's house was moved from its foundation and
otherwise injured. Samuel Hopson's orchard shows most
clearly the curve of the cyclone — namely, exactly opposite to
the hands of a watch. Owing to the rotary motion, the frag-
ments carried eastward generally came to the ground outside
the main path of the storm. The storm lifted itself as it
passed up the hill, hence of course it did not destroy the
houses from their foundations, except in a few instances, where
it darted down upon them.

I trust that additional conclusions may be given by abler
writers. The report of the signal officer sent here by the
government will doubtless be valuable.

'j6 HISTORY OF THE WALLINGFORD DISASTER.

Brief records exist of other tornadoes in Connecticut : In
June, 1682 ; 1728 or '29 ; August 20, 1787 ; August 7,

1739-

In only one (that of 1787) were any Hves lost, and those
storms were gentle zephyrs compared with the one of
August 9, 1878.